Into the Glyph
by rwbyfan5
Summary: I was just a lowly fanfiction writer, until one day I was teleported to Remnant by forces unknown with my anti-RWBY brother! Watch as we try and not die in this crazy new world. Self-insert. Rated M for violence and language. Romance later. I do not own RWBY, that's Rooster Teeth. Discontinued.
1. Trailers

_**Hello, new readers! 'Tis I, rwbyfan5! What you see before you is a series of trailers depicting the OCs that will appear later in this fic. Consider it a kind of "taste test" so you know what kind of story you'll be reading. If you want to skip, that's fine. This is not important to the rest of the story. Anyway, read or skip your call. But no matter what, please enjoy.**_

"Purple trailer"

A lone figure walked into the training arena. He wasn't all that tall, but he wasn't short either. He had purple hair, yellow eyes, and a green t shirt with gray jeans. He appeared bulky under his shirt, which were a few sizes too big. Once he stopped, the exercise began.

A small army of androids appeared, all armed to the teeth. The boy seemed anxious, but not hesitant. He took a deep breath, and charged at them. They fired a volley of bullets at him, all hitting their mark. The boy made no attempt to dodge the attack and remained largely unaffected, not even slowing down. A blade attached to a metal coil shot of of his sleeve faster than the eye could catch and chopped the nearest robots in half with a long swipe.

Another coil shot out of his other sleeve, but this time it was some kind of mechanical grabber. It latched onto an android's head and tore it off. He kept attacking for a few moments before he decided that he had enough debris to work with. He lifted his hand and concentrated. Suddenly, a large tornado appeared and picked up all the wreckage the boy had produced. The broken bits of robot were then launched at the remaining androids at high speeds, destroying them.

A buzzer sounded, signaling that the training exercise was complete.

"Well done, Mr. Anemone." Prof. Goodwitch said from the stands, "You should be able to qualify for the tournament just fine. Up next is Mr. Machina."

"Brown trailer"

The grinning teen stepped onto the training arena. He'd seen it coming, just as he saw everything. Well, not _everything_, just a lot of things. Anyway, the droids were all geared up and ready. He saw the shots being fired, and quickly dodged them before they even left their chambers. He had to pay extra attention to moving his tail, it was always the last thing on his mind when he was doing this sort of thing and he didn't want to get it damaged. He was very proud of his tail, even if it came with a lot of hate from the humans, and needed special pants. His thoughts snapped back to the situation at hand when a bullet narrowly missed his face.

He decided he'd had enough fun, and needed his weapons. He reached to his sides and pulled out two pistols. All shots he fired resulted in headshots, quickly disabling the robots. One managed to sneak behind him and almost skewered him, but he turned just in time and blocked the attack with the knives attached to the top of his guns.

He pressed a button on the sides of his pistols. The barrels flipped upward, and the knives slid down to the hilt. Keeping his finger in the trigger guard, he spun his weapons at blurring speeds and hacked the android to pieces. Looking around, he saw that he'd downed the last one, and his grin grew. A buzzer sounded, signaling that he was done.

"Well done, Mr. Machina. That's all the time we have, have a nice day. And remember to study."

"Gray trailer"

Five trucks traveled down a deserted road single file, each one carrying crates of stolen dust. The men that had stolen them were wearing black business suites with creepy pedo-stuches. It was dark, but the frontmost driver could make out a figure standing in the road. He would've just run him over, but that would attract attention that they didn't want, so he slammed on the brakes. The driver opened his door and got out. This close, he could now see that it was a kid, maybe fifteen years old. He had shaggy brown hair with gray wolf ears poking out, gray eyes, and some kind of weird chain mail over his torso.

"Hey, what's the hold up?" Asked a goon from inside.

"Nothin', just some mutt. I'll take care of it. Hey, kid! Didn't your mama ever tell you not to be out this late?"The driver yelled. The teen smirked.

"Didn't your mama ever tell you that stealing is wrong? You guys weren't exactly hard to track: Five creepy looking trucks driving single file, driven by even creepier looking thugs." The driver's eyes widened behind his shades.

"You little punk!" He pulled out a red sword and charged at the boy.

The teen's smirk grew to a grin, and a mechanical whirring was heard from his arms. A pair of brass knuckles wrapped around his fists as he reared. The goon went flying back, making a dent in his truck. The others were alerted by the noise and came out with their weapons drawn.

"Get him!" One thug yelled. The boy rolled his eyes.

"Really? 'Get him'? Well, I guess you weren't hired for your originality."

Jetfire came out of his elbows and he flew over to them. He went threw them like bowling pins, then landed to finish off the rest. When he was done he looked around, scanning the area for any more. Down the road, he saw one trying to flee. He raised a hand, and a blade attached to a long chain launched out of a hidden compartment in his vambrace, wrapping around the henchman.

"Get over here!" The boy shouted, giving homage to his weapon's namesake.

The goon was tossed at him and he punched him in the face, using the jets attached to his weapon to fuel the blow.

Now satisfied that his work was done, he called the police and left. He'd gotten his thrill for the day, however momentary.

"Blue trailer"

On a distant hill, a shadowy figure looked through the scope of a silenced sniper rifle and found his targets. The shadow that the hood of his jacket cast over his face was unnaturally dark, obscuring his features completely. Down below were several White Fang goons transporting a large crate. The hooded teen didn't know what was in the crate he just knew that it was probably bad.

This was the difference between the boy's brother and himself: One like to get in his enemy's face, up close and personal, while the other liked to take his time and line up the perfect shot. One thing they shared, though, was the rush. The adrenaline pumping through them as they beat the living shit out of their enemies. This used to be done in video games, until..._IT_ happened.

The teen shook that line of thought away and refocused. He could get maybe two or three shots off before his location was discovered, he'd have to use them well. Deciding to take out the one's with the biggest guns first, he lined up and fired.

*_Pit_*...*_Pit_*

Two metallic clicking noises were all that were heard as he took them down one at a time. It always surprised people how quiet his gun was. In a world where the weapons are loud and flashy, his weapons were designed _not_ to be seen or heard. The criminals below, however, were starting to notice.

*_Pit_*

"He's over there!" Said one of them.

A sound that might of been a small chuckle came from under the boy's hood as he disassembled his gun into it's two original shapes: A black Katana, and a silenced pistol. The teen leaped down and rushed at them with his sword. The first thug went down easy enough, but the second saw it coming and blocked. Another chuckle came for the boy's hood as his blade suddenly crackled with electricity. It went through his foe's sword and into his body, making him writhe with pain as he fell.

Only one left, and his new opponent stared into the endless blackness that was the face of his enemy. In the end, the henchman dropped his gun and ran. The teen's chuckling evolved into laughter as he watched the coward run, then he turned to open the crate. However, a foot burst out of the box, causing a large hole. From out of this hole steapped a very large fanus with rhino horns in a White Fang uniform and with a very big sword.

"We knew that one of you would try to stop us! Show me your face, so that I may know who I kill this day!" The man roared.

The teen's head quirked, as if in thought. Then, slowly, he lifted his hood off of his head.

"Take a good look, tough guy, 'cause _this_ is the face of your defeat!" The boy said with forced bravado.

He had light brown hair with black cat ears, turquoise eyes, and a manic grin.

He always thought it best that people thought him over-confidant, as opposed to the gut-wrenching fear he usually felt when fighting up close. But _this_ was definatly the rush he'd been looking for! The teen charged at the larger man as fast as he could, struck, and...promptly bounced right off of his hulking opponent. The man laughed and raised his sword high.

"You think _THAT_ would injure _ME_?!" He said cruelly.

The teen needed time to think. Obviously, this guy either had some kind of invisible armor on, or his aura was unlocked and this was his semblance. The thought that his aura protected him entered and exited his mind. If it was aura, he'd of still taken some kind of damage. Also, he decided that armor was out of the question as well: This guy liked flashy, not subtle, he wouldn't want his armor to be invisible. So, semblance it was. How to get passed it? The boy's smile became genuine as he came up with a plan. He wanted to fight with super powers? Fine!

"It's story time, bitch!" He laughed and raised his hand dramatically, he was as much a showman as he was a huntsman.

A cloud of darkness shot out of his sleeve and into his opponent's face. The larger man yelped and tried to swat it away. The teen laughed as this man, like so many others, mistook his semblance for some kind of black gas. As his foe tried to get away from this blinding cloud, the boy sheathed his sword and snuck behind him. Blue designs appeared in the teen's gloves as he pressed his hands against the rhino fanus' back. The man suddenly screamed as several volts were pumped through him. After a few minutes of this, he finally fell unconscious. Or had a heart attack, the boy didn't know. He called the police and left, wondering if his brother had gotten as good a fight as he did. After all, this _was_ a hobby they shared, even if they didn't like to share bad guys.

_**And that's a wrap! Hope you liked it! Don't forget to follow, fav, and review! Please proceed**____**to the next chapter for the actual story! See you there!**_


	2. I go to Remnant

Ch. 1: I go to Remnant

_**Darce:**_

"I AM SO DONE!" I shout as I throw my headphones off.

"What is it?" my brother, Gray, asked. My shouting had apparently jostled him from his gaming.

"I was listening to the new RWBY soundtrack and Renora is so canon!"

"Oh." Gray sighed, immediately disinterested. Despite sharing my love of anime, he's never liked RWBY and could go on forever about how awful it is, so he couldn't care less what I was talking about. Remembering this, I sighed and put my headphones back on. I clicked out of the youtube video I'd been watching ('Boop' by Jeff Williams), and saw a notification that I'd received an e-mail. When I checked it, I saw one at the top of my inbox that gave me pause. The sender ID was blank, it only had a subject: "_**You'll want to open this**_".

Curiosity overcame me and I clicked, finding a picture and an audio file inside. The picture was of a circle full of odd symbols, like the glyphs used in the show, only it looked...different. I couldn't quite place what was wrong with it, but something told me there was a difference. I decided to focus on that later and clicked on the audio file. The sound of light static filled my ears, after a second or two it was replaced by an electronically disguised voice,

"**You'll Thank Me Later…**"

My confusion was quickly replaced by fear when the glyph suddenly glowed brightly and...grabbed me?! I was being pulled into my laptop!

"G-" I tried calling out to my brother but I was too late. I was gone.

_**Gray:**_

What. The. FUCK?! Darce was...he was just...GONE! I saw it happen out of the corner of my eye! My older brother was yanked INTO HIS LAPTOP! I quickly threw my controller to the side and rushed to where he was. He was here literally FIVE SECONDS AGO! Now all there was was an empty chair and a glowing laptop. I paused...Glowing? I looked at Darce's oversized laptop, the screen was completely blank, but it was a lot brighter than it should be. Text suddenly appeared;

_**Hello, Gray. Don't worry, your brother is exactly where he wants to be. But you now have to make a choice: **_

_**1: Close this laptop and report Darce missing. You will never see him again. End of story.**_

_**2: Press your hand to the screen. You will fall unconscious and wake up next to your brother in an unfamiliar place. You will never see home again, or the rest of your family and friends. Your life will be in mortal danger for the rest of your existence.**_

_**What'll it be?**_

"Easy." I say, and immediately pressed my hand against the screen. My vision, as expected, went dark.

_**Darce:**_

I woke up, I have no idea how long I was out. I sat up and rubbed my head, I had a really bad headache. Looking around, I saw that I was on a sidewalk and next to me was Gray. I nudged him awake and we both got up. I didn't recognize the street names or buildings, but the whole place had a kind of italian feel to it. I noticed it was night and looked for the moon. I found it, and was paralysed with awe. A large chunk of it was broken off and then further fractured into smaller bits, just like in… oh,...oh, PLEASE YES! I immediately grabbed Gray's shoulder and shook him, shouting,

"HOLYCRAPGRAYTHEMOONLOOKATTHEMOOOON!" He looked at me like I had gone crazy, then saw what I was talking about.

"What the hell?!" He said.

"EXACTLY!DOYOUKNOWWHATTHISMEANS?!" Gray then grabbed both of my shoulders, looked me right in the eyes, and slapped me right across my face.

"Darce, get ahold of yourself!" I immediately raised my hands to defend myself and squirmed out of his grasp. Wait a minute…

"Gray…?" I said slowly. I could see he had realized it too.

"Darce...We're glowing…"

"Holy crap, you're taller too!"

"And you're skinnier!"

"And...Gray…"

"What?"

"You're a Fanus!"

"I'm a WHAT!?"

"You have dog ears!"

"WHAT!?" his hand flew to the top of his head and found that he did indeed have dog ears.

"Holy crap, you've got cat ears!"

"What!?" We were both appropriately freaking the hell out. I used to be a whole head taller than him, and while I was never really fat, I had been pushing 'chubby' for awhile. Now he was almost eye level with me and I had a flat stomach. Whatever had happened to us had taken away our most hated physical attributes and given us something extra. _but why are we both fanus, and different species of fanus at that?_ I asked myself. After a little while of basically screaming at each other and rolling on the ground, we calmed down and started thinking.

"Darce?"

"What?"

"Where are we?" I paused.

"Remnant." I said with complete confidence.

"What?"

"It's like an alternate earth."

"Okay, so why are we…?" he waved his hands to indicate the glow, which was slowly fading.

"The glow is a sign that our aura has been unlocked. Aura can be used to-" We started walking and I spent the next few minutes telling him the basics of this world; Aura, Fanus, Dust, etc. After a while, he asked me the all-important question.

"Alright then, _when_ are we?"

"Well, from the look of the buildings and the time of day I would have to guess-" A loud crash interrupted me. Down the street, a teenaged girl had just thrown a grown man through a window of a dust shop, leaving four men staring after him. I noticed one in particular: Roman Torchwick

"...Episode one..." I finished, then I ran towards them, "Quick, find something to fight with!"

"Why?" Gray asked, chasing after me.

"Because I'd rather not fight a bunch of armed thugs and **Roman Torchwick** with my bare hands!"

"Who's-"

"The guy in white coat and bowler cap! Long story short: he's bad news."

"Then why aren't we running _away_ from him?!"

"Because I'll be damned if he's getting away unscathed again!" I found a crowbar on the ground and picked it up. "Come on! Hurry up!"

_**Gray:**_

Great...Just...Great! Now Darce wants to play hero in his favorite show, and was probably going to get us both killed! And I _totally _felt safe with the girl wielding an over-sized _scythe! _ He said something earlier about Fanus having enhanced vision and, looking around, I could believe it. My hearing was better too, but I think that was the extra ears. Anyway, I looked for something to fight with like Darce said and found a chain with a hook at the end. I picked it up and felt an odd chill crawl up my arms.

At first I thought that the metal was just cold, but then I realized that the chill wasn't physical. It felt like it was...giving me something. Then it hit me: I suddenly knew exactly how to wield this chain like I'd be studying it for years.

_What the hell?_

"HEY, ASSHOLE!" My idiot brother shouted right before hitting a thug in the back of the head. The man let out an 'UMF!' before going down. Following Darce's example, I threw my chain around another goon's gun and yanked it out of his hands. The girl with the scythe seemed momentarily dazed by our arrival, but quickly snapped out of it and took down the remaining two thugs at blinding speeds. The guy in the bowler cap, Roman something, just sighed when the last guy went down and muttered something to himself. His attention then went to us.

"Well, kids," He said, "I think we all can agree its been an eventful evening. And, as much as I'd _love_ to stick around," He pointed his cane at us, "I'm afraid _this_" the bottom popped out, "is where we part ways." A loud whining noise filled my ears as Darce pushed me out of the way of what looked like some kind of firework. The girl in red used the gun attached to her scythe to propel herself up and out of harm's way. We quickly got up and looked around, but he was nowhere to be-

"Up there!" The scythe girl cried out and pointed to a ladder on the side of the building. Not really thinking, I grabbed some large bits of broken glass to throw at him while the others charged towards the building. I felt the chill again and suddenly knew how to use them. _It's all in the wrist_, the glass seemed to tell me. I started throwing, amazed that I was actually getting anywhere near the bowler cap guy. I heard him curse as glass shards started hitting the wall just inches from him. _How the hell am I doing this?_ I asked myself as I picked the chain back up and followed the others. I threw the chain up, caught the edge of the roof, and yanked myself up, surprising myself that that actually worked. _The gravity must be weaker here._ I concluded.

"Persistent..." I heard bowler cap guy growl to himself. Suddenly some kind of aircraft rose up from under the building and he climbed on.

"End of the line, kids!" he shouted and raised up a red crystal with a grin. He then tossed it at us. I suddenly remembered what Darce said about dust and I quickly dove for cover. I heard that whining noise again and then an explosion. I looked up to see that some woman in a weird cape had appeared and protected us with a large circle thing. She then attacked the ship with purple things, which almost made it crash. Bowler cap guy ran into the cockpit and was replaced by a woman in a red dress. The woman in the cape made a storm of ice shards above them. The woman in the red dress retaliated by throwing a fireball. Okay, you know what, I'm renaming them Nice Lady and Mean Lady. Nice Lady blocked with another circle thing, but the fireball somehow made the ground around her explode. She dodged out of the way and turned the shrapnel into a drill and launched it at the ship. Mean Lady tried to destroy it with more fireballs, but Nice Lady just reformed it. However, it had been knock off target and ricocheted off the roof of the ship. Nice Lady turned it into three smaller ones, but Mean Lady did something that turn it into ashes. The scythe girl, seeing that Nice Lady was momentarily out of tricks, turned her scythe into a gun and fired several shots. All of which were blocked by Mean Lady, who then made the ground underneath all of us explode. Nice Lady pushed us all to safety with some kind of telekinesis. By the time we all got up, they were gone. The scythe girl looked to Nice lady.

"You're a huntress," Nice lady just looked at her, and a look of total admiration overcame the scythe girl's face as she squealed, "Can I have your autograph?!"

"No." She said flatly, "But you _can_ come with me for questioning, along with your fanus friends here."

"Oh, I don't know these guys." Scythe girl said. Darce stepped forward.

"My brother and I saw her fighting and decided to help."

"No," I said, "_You_ decided to help and I came along to stop those thugs from killing you!"

"In any case," _Not So_ Nice Lady continued, " I suggest you put your weapons away and come with me." Darce and I put our makeshift weapons on the ground and followed her. I saw that Darce's crowbar had markings on it. _Does that say 'Freeman'?_

"Gray, hurry up!" Darce shouted and I ran to catch up with them.

_**Hope you guys liked the first chapter! Remember to follow, fav, and review!**_

_**Oh, and Darce is pronounced D-ARE-SS.**_

_**Later Fanatics!**_


	3. I get interrogated

_**I am back once again to bestow upon you all with another chapter, enjoy!**_

Ch. 2: I get interrogated

_**Darce:**_

MUST. REMAIN. CALM… I was minutes away from meeting Headmaster Ozpin. I had FOUGHT alongside RUBY ROSE! GLYNDA GOODWITCH had SAVED MY LIFE! I had gotten shot at by ROMAN TORCHWICK and CINDER FALL!

MUST...REMAIN...calm…

I sit in a chair just outside Ozpin's interrogation room, working desperately to control my breathing. Gray sat next to me, perfectly calm. He has no idea who these people are, or their importance. For just a moment, I envy him. Just a moment. Then my excitement drowned it out.

"Hey, Darce," Gray started.

"What?"

"Why'd you rush into the fight if you knew we'd get in trouble?"

"That, dear brother," I replied with a smirk, "is an excellent question. Care to guess?" My snarkiness was a defence mechanism I'd adopted long ago. Gray gave me an annoyed look.

"Not really, n-" He was interrupted by the door slamming open and Ruby rushing out.

"I'M GOING TO BEACON!" She squealed with delight. Goodwitch stepped out and motioned with her whip for us to come in.

"You two, in here." When Gray looked hesitant she added a forceful, "NOW."

We walked in to see Ozpin sitting on a chair, sipping in some coffee, with two plates of cookies in front of two chairs. Gray and I took our seats and grabbed a cookie off of our respective plates.

"So," Ozpin began, "Mind telling me your names and why you took it upon yourselves to help Ms. Rose?"

"My name is Darce Forge and this is my brother, Gray." I started. "We saw a girl in trouble, we helped." I gave him a shrug.

"Alright then, tell me why can't we seem to find you on any records or data banks at all?"

"Probably because we're from a different dimension, called 'Earth'." Goodwitch gave me a look that told me she thought I was either crazy or lying. Ozpin stayed straight faced.

"I see. And how is it you found yourselves in our humble kingdom?" All three of us just stared at him for a while.

"You...believe him?!" Goodwitch asked, just as shocked as us. I hadn't honestly expected him to take me seriously. And never thought he'd do so immediately!

"I found video surveillance showing these two seemingly appear out of nowhere, wander aimlessly for a few minutes, then stumble upon the , why don't you tell use the whole story?"

I did. Over the course of maybe ten minutes, I told Ozpin everything. Of course, I left out the bit about them being a web series in our world. Gray mostly just sat there, patiently nibbling on cookies. When I was done, Ozpin nodded.

"I see… so you have no identification, no way to get food, and no shelter." I froze. I'd forgotten about all those things. What if he doesn't let us into-

"How would you like to attend my school?" Ozpin asked. Glynda gave him a cautious look.

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"Very." He reassured, "So, what'll it be?"

"What is it you teach?" Gray asked, speaking up for the first time. Ozpin gave him an amused look.

"We run a school to train huntsmen and huntresses."

"What are we hunting?" It was Ozpin's turn to look confused.

"Creatures of Grimm."

"Creatures of what? Are we hunting depressed squirrels or something?"

"Gray," I said, and put a hand on his shoulder, "It's a warm meal and a roof over our heads, it's not like we have much of an option." He thought for a bit.

"I guess you're right, but I don't have to like it."

"Excellent. School starts in two months. In the mean time, I'll get you fake IDs, scrolls, and I'll help you with forging your own weapons." Gray's ears perked up (literally) when he heard that last bit.

_**Gray:**_

For two months, we worked on our weapons and studied to catch up with the other potential first years. I learned what Grimm were, and how absolutely absurd the weapons here are. When I first was working on mine I was going for just a big gun, but I scrapped that idea when I learned the full scope of what I could do. I found out that the "chill" I'd been getting was my "Semblance". Basically a superpower, which allowed me to instinctively know how to use something by touching it. I was told that semblances were based off of your personality in some way, which made sense; I'd always been good with my hands and very proud of my natural talent to figure out how things tick. But, with this new ability, I could suddenly play the guitar, hack a computer...even forge a weapon.

I based the final design of my weapon after Scorpion from Mortal Kombat. It was a pair of vambraces that could launch a blade attached to a chain, the chain could then be moved by my aura, or just go out a little bit to make something like a hidden blade from Assassin's Creed. The vambraces could also deploy brass knuckles for close combat. The top could pop out to reveal three holes in the back near my elbow. there was a large hole in the middle with two smaller holes on either side, each containing dust powered jets that could either provide a continuous stream for mobility or a quick burst to propel my fist through whatever was in front of it.

When Darce saw it, he asked if I'd been secretly watching RWBY, to which I answered no. When I asked why, he said that one of the main characters (that we'd be meeting soon) had a very similar weapon, Ember Celica. I mostly designed Scorpion as a close range weapon because I noticed that not only had my upper body strength been greatly enhanced, but it was getting better every day. Since the Headmaster required us to go to the gym in order to better our bodies, I've found every workout increasingly easier, forcing me to add more and more weight. It got so ridiculous that, during the last week, he made me exempt from upper body exercises.

Darce had gotten a bit stronger too, but the most noticeable change was his speed. While I was adding weights, he was going faster and longer on the treadmill. Most of the time he had this manic smile on his face, and when he was on the treadmill the grin doubled in size. It only ever disappeared if you mentioned semblances. He still hadn't figured his out, and was really bummed out about it. It was sad, really, because when he was running or working on his weapon, he'd never looked so alive. I liked seeing him like that (though I'd never tell him that. He still doesn't know I came here by choice, he thinks I was sucked in with him). When he would get an idea of what his semblance could be, I'd help him out, and when it would fail, I was there for him. Mostly just to smack the back of his head and tell him to get over it, but that's just my way of expressing love.

On the day before the new students would arrive, Darce told me how initiation would work. I wanted Darce as a partner, so we had to hatch a plan as to be the first ones we made eye contact with each other. When we finally came up with one, we called it a day and went to bed.

That night I woke up to a noise. When I opened my eyes, I saw strange lights coming from the other side of the room. I looked over to see that they were coming from just above Darce. It was a floating circle showing our mom in the kitchen making lunch. She looked happy, doing the singing and dancing thing she would do when cooking or cleaning. There was no sound, but I could guess what song she was singing, "Man in the Mirror". Darce entered the kitchen and said something, and mom said something back. Darce shrugged and walked to the door, and looked like he was calling out for someone.

A dream version of me, one without wolf ears (turns out they were wolf ears, not dog) walked in and looked annoyed at him. He said something and dream-me slugged him on the shoulder. He just laughed, and the circle disappeared. _was that his semblance?_ I asked myself. I was too tired to put much energy into figuring out anything, so I went back to sleep.

_**Darce:**_

I woke up the next day feeling well rested, so I decided to run a few laps around the school. The new first years would arrive around noon, I had plenty of time. Careful not to wake Gray, I slipped into my armor and walked out. My armor was fairly simple, a hoodie made from Jack of Plate (a medieval technique of sewing small squares of metal into fabric for both comfort and protection), jeans with shin guards underneath, sneakers, and, most importantly, gloves with lightning dust woven in. Gray had made his similar, but he went for the japanese equivalent of Jack of Plate (Dragon scale: basically dimond shaped bits of metal overlapping each other. You know, like scales), just a shirt instead of a hoodie, and no gloves. He prefered his Ember Celica knock off, Scorpion, to any glove, and was very proud of it.

I used the time outside to both stretch my legs and clear the sleep from my head. It was a lovely day today, especially with my enhanced fanus senses. The sun had painted the early morning sky wonderful shades of pink, purple, and orange as I jogged around the campus. When I finished it was around 11:00-11:30, I went back to my temporary dorm to see Gray awake and playing with a rubiks cube. He looked up at the sound of the door opening, and waved to acknowledge my presence before returning to his puzzle.

"Hey bro, what'cha been up to?" I asked.

"Walked around a bit, got bored, came back here, played with my rubiks cube. You?"

"Jogged. The other first years will be here soon, want to greet them?" Gray gave a bored sigh

"Sure."

As we approached the air docks, airships appeared in the horizon. After a few minutes, they arrived and docked, allowing the passengers to leave. The first person I saw was Jaune, rushing to puke into a trash can. After him, a few people I didn't recognize unboarded and then out came Ruby and her sister. I waved and caught their attention, causing Ruby to smile. Yang nudged and asked her something, Ruby's face went red and she shouted back at her, loud enough for Gray and I to hear.

"Yang! They are NOT my 'boy toys'!"

"That's racist!" Gray yelled back playfully. Yang just laughed and dragged her sister towards us.

"So, you two saw my little sister, Ruby, in trouble and decided to be gentle man? How nobel."

"Little sister?" Gray asked, confused.

"They're probably like us, half-siblings." I elaborated, pretending not to already know. It wasn't a complete lie, Gray and I were half-brothers.

"Wow, Good eye! But if you're half-brothers, how is one a wolf and the other a cat?" Ruby asked.

"I dunno, it just happened." Gray said with a shrug.

"Oh, my friends are here! Gotta go, sis, see ya laterloveyoubye!" Yang said quickly and left.

"Yang! Wait!" The force for her leaving knocked Ruby off balance, sending her backwards...and straight into Weiss Schnee's luggage.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" the heiress yelled.

"Oh, sorry!" Ruby quickly said.

"'Sorry'? Do you have any idea of the damage you could've caused?"

"Uhhh…"

"Hey, she said she was sorry!" Gray yelled. Being the little guy back on earth hadn't improved his outlook on bullies.

"Mind your own business!" She shot back, waving a jar of dust at him. _Oh, shit_, I saw what would come next. Gray scrunched up his face…and sneezed directly onto the white haired heiress.

"AAACHHOOOOO!" BOOM! An explosion shot out of Gray's nose, covering the heiress in soot. _Now all that's left is…_

"You stupid brute! You've covered me in ash, you mutt! What are you going to do about it?!" Gray got a weird, cruel grin on his face, the kind that said he was a very certain kind of pissed off right now.

"Well, I could _clean_ you off, _princess_." He gave his lips a long lick, so there would be no doubt of what he meant by "clean", and a look that said he wasn't bluffing. Weiss looked absolutely disgusted.

"It's 'heiress', actually." said a voice. _There she is..._

"Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. One of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world…"

"Finally, some recognition!" Weiss said, giving the rest of us a smug look, even as Gray was snickering at her name.

"The same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners." We all suppressed giggles as Weiss became flustered. She then yanked the dust jar from Blake's hand and stormed off. I noted that Ruby didn't yell apologies at Weiss, and that Blake actually stuck around. The story was already changing.

"Hi," I said, sticking out a hand towards Blake, "I'm Darce. This is my brother, Gray, and my friend Ruby." Blake left me hanging, so I dropped my hand.

"Blake. Nice to meet you." I quickly searched my mind for an ice breaker, and found one I thought might work.

"So, I'm running out of books to read. Any recommendations?" She gave me a small smile.

"I've started reading 'The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'. So far it's good, if a bit slow. Anyway, I have to go. I'll see you around." With that, she turned and walked away.

"She seems nice." Ruby piped up.

"Real smooth there, bro, with the whole 'geek in need' thing. Such pro, much wow." Gray said the last bit like Shibe Doge. Asshole. I saw Jaune looking at us from a small distance, and decided to motion him over. Gray gave me a look that said '_you wanna hang out with __**vomit boy**__?!_'

"Hey, I'm Jaune." We all introduced ourselves. Ruby chuckled.

"Aren't you the guy that threw up on the ship?"

_**Later**_

"Whoa! Is that a scythe?!"

"It's also a customizable, high-impact sniper rifle."

"A-wha?"

"It's also a gun." I had to stop myself from completely fan-boying out at both the sight of Crescent Rose and the unofficial catchphrase.

"Oh...That's cool!" Even Gray seemed interested and slightly terrified of the giant scythe.

"So, what do you guys got?" Gray raised his hands and activated his vambraces. The top and bottom popped out, and brass knuckles covered his fists.

"I call it 'Scorpion'!"

"Ooooh! My sister has something just like that! What do they do?"

"Watch this!" He aimed his elbows downward and activated the jets, sending him a few feet in the air. He jetted back down and used the momentum to slam his fist into the stone path underneath him. The result was a large creator. Ruby looked over to me.

"What about you?!" she asked excitedly. I pulled out my Katana and pistol.

"The sword's name is Nihil, the gun is Aut. Aut is silenced, and the lightning dust in my gloves can magnetize it, turning it into a tiny railgun. Nihil can also be powered by my gloves, making it hotter. A heated blade can cut through things easier. They can fuse together to form Gemino; which is basically a sniper rifle version of Aut. My gloves themselves have retractable claws."

"Your weapons seem awfully centered around those gloves." Ruby observed.

"Most weapons are centered around the hands, why not add something extra?"

"Cool. And you, Jaune?"

"Uh...well...I've got this." He pulled out his sword and shield.

"Ooh, what do they do?"

Jaune then made a fool of himself by fumbling and dropping his sword and shield. After a good laugh, Jaune looked around and asked,

"So, where are we going?"

"I don't know, I was following you guys!" Ruby replied.

"Me too." Gray said.

"We're lost, aren't we?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yeap." Jaune said, deflated.

"Well, let's start walking, then."

_**That's all for now, I hope you liked it. What do you think of our weapons? What do you think Darce's semblance is? Stay tuned for the thrilling next chapter! Later Fanatics!**_


	4. I piss of Ice Sneeze

_**I is in ur compooter, givn' u 'nother chapter. Has all the joys.**_

Chapter 3: I piss off Ice Sneeze

_**Gray:**_

When we finally arrived at the Main Hall, we marveled at all the people we saw. There were dozens! Which was a lot, as we might as well have been alone in these last two months.

"Ruby!" We heard from the crowd. It was Ruby's sister, Yang, "Over here! I saved you a spot!"

"Oh! Hey, I gotta go! I'll see you guys after the ceremony!" Ruby quickly said, then ran off to her sister.

"Well, we'd better find our own spot." Darce said, motioning to Jaune and me. After talking with Jaune, I'd found that he was actually a nice guy, if a bit clumsy. He didn't look like much of a fighter, though. I don't think he'd be much good under fire. We walked around a bit before settling in on a spot. We made small talk for a bit, waiting for the ceremony to start.

"You!" came a voice from behind us. I turned around to see that mean girl from before.

"Oh, hello," I said with exaggerated niceness, "Aren't you that 'Ice Sneeze' girl we bumped into earlier?"

"It's Weiss Schnee! You're the only one sneezing, Dog Breath! We could've gotten blown off the cliff! What do you have to say for yourself?!"

"Woof." I responded. She pulled out a small booklet and held it in front of my face. "What's that?"

"The Schnee Dust Company is not responsible for any injuries-" I'm sure there was more after that, but she'd exhausted my attention span and I stopped caring. When she saw that I was blankly staring at her she sighed.

"You _can_ read, right?" Her tone implied she wouldn't be surprised if I couldn't.

"Oh, THAT'S IT, BITCH!" Darce wrapped an arm around my middle and held me back. He then grabbed the booklet and said,

"Ms. Sneeze, I truly wanted to read this, but it would appear my dog ate it." He said in a mocking posh accent, handing the booklet to me and I, taking the hint, tore it to shreds. "So until you're ready to apologize to my little brother here, I suggest you kindly _piss off_." She looked taken aback.

"Apologize?! You expect a Schnee to apologize to that-that-" She gestured to me, still tearing away at the booklet with gusto, "That _brute_?!"

"In all honesty? Not at all." Darce shrugged and turned away from her. "Good day to you, Ms. Sneeze." It was obvious from her expression that she'd expected this conversation to happen very differently. She humphed and walked away.

"She seems nice." Jaune said sarcastically, and Darce gave him a confused look, then an approving nod. Weird. The speakers then crackled to life and we noticed Ozpin on the stage.

"I'll...keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

"Well," I said, my tone dripping with sarcasm, "_That_ wasn't depressing at all." Ozpin stepped off stage and Prof. Goodwitch took the mic.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, your initiation begins; be ready. You are dismissed."

_**Darce, in the Ballroom:**_

So, Jaune doesn't have a crush on Weiss. Good for him. I waved at Yang and Ruby as I went to my sleeping bag. Yang said something to Ruby and she hit her with a pellow. Before I reached my sleeping bag I heard the striking of a match. I looked over to see Blake reading a book by candlelight.

"Hey," I said, walking over to her, "any idea where I could get some candles? I wanna finish this book." I pulled out the book I'd been reading, "The Dust of Failure". A purely Remnant based book, from what I could tell. Blake looked at my choice of literature approvingly.

"I've got a spare." She said, handing me and unlit candle.

"HELLLOOOO!" said the sing-song voice of Yang as she dragged Ruby behind her, "I believe you three may know each other?"

"Hey, guys." Ruby said awkwardly.

"Hello Ruby." Blake greeted.

"Hi ya." I said pleasantly.

"I'm here too." Gray's voice came from behind me.

"And I'm Yang, Ruby's older sister!"

"Well, I'm gonna bounce. Thanks for the candle, Blake. Later." I said and walked away. Gray followed.

"I like your bow! It goes great with your pajamas!" I heard Yang say.

"I agree, it's adorable." I said over my shoulder, causing Blake to give me a strange look.

"Dude, drop whatever crush you have on her. Humans don't go for fanus, remember?" I grinned, but didn't say anything. After that, I went to bed, excited about what tomorrow would bring.

_**The next day, in the lockerroom:**_

"So, you excited?" I asked Gray.

"You know I hate this show." He said, but his wide grin betrayed him. He was finally going to field test Scorpion. Nora and Ren walked by and caught Gray's attention.

"Who's she?" He gestured to Nora.

"No one you should be worried about, unless you get on her bad side."

"Oh, one of those 'Cute Killer' types?"

"Pretty much." I looked over to see Ruby caressing Crescent Rose.

"Well remember, Ruby, you aren't the only one going through initiation." Yang said, worriedly, "If you're going to grow up, you're gonna have to meet new people and learn to work together." Deciding not to interfere I turned back to Gray.

"So, you remember the plan?"

"Yea, when Ozpin launches us into the air, I use my jets to grab you and take us directly to the ruins before any Grimm show up. Then I...is something wrong with her face?" He pointed to Weiss, who had a look of pure evil on her face as she had a monologue in her head.

"She's fine." I assured him.

"Hi, I'm Jaune Arc. Nice to meet'cha." for a moment I thought he was talking to Weiss, but then he turned to Pyrrha.

"Nice to meet you, Jaune."

"So, hot stuff, I've been hearing rumors about teams. I was thinking you and I would make a good one, what do you say?"

"That sounds lovely." She said, giving him a smile. Gray nudged me with his elbow.

"Really?" He asked, nodding towards Jaune and Pyrrha.

"Really." I replied. He sighed.

"Well, at least I've got some fuel to get me past all this romance bull." He said happily, pulling out a plate of cookies from his locker (courtesy of the headmaster). He picked one up and was about to chow down when the platter was suddenly knocked out of his hands.

"Whoops, looks like the dirty animal doesn't get his treat! Ha Ha!" came Cardin's voice from next to us. Gray looked at the broken cookies as if they were the dead bodies of everyone he ever cared about, then directed his gaze at Cardin.

"That was a dozen cookies…" His voice was barely a whisper. I had learned long ago that he had four levels of anger; annoyed, angry, sadistic, and "You messed with my cookies now enjoy your last hours". I slowly backed away as Cardin laughed at his expression. He walked out of the room through an automatic door that opened at the middle. Gray quickly picked up the metal plate the cookies had been on and took aim. Just as the doors were closing, he threw the plate with all of his strength. It just barely made it through, but it did, and hit Cardin square in the back of his thick skull. There was a loud cry of surprise and pain, then a _THUD_ as what I assume was Cardin's unconscious form hit the ground, _**hard**_. The speakers crackled and a voice came through.

"Would all first year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation. Again, all first year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately."

We smiled at each other and walked over to Cardin's unconscious body. Gray placed a cookie next to him.

"What was that?" I asked when we walked away.

"_That_," He gestured to the unconscious bully, "Was act of revenge one of twelve."

_**Gray, Beacon Cliff:**_

*click, click*

WOOSH!

I was airborne. I had mentally prepared for it while Ozpin was talking, but it still took me by surprise. Once I'd reorientated myself, I activated my jets and looked around me. I spotted Darce, and flew over to him. He was flailing around, and looked about ready to barf. I was about to grab him, but then I thought '_Where's the fun in that?_'

"Need a hand?" He looked like a cat trying to escape a bath.

"HELP ME!"

"Say please!" I teased.

"GRAY!"

"Fine, jeez. Calm down!" I flew closer and he latched on for dear life. My Jets then decided to alert me that fuel was running low. "I'll get us as close to the ruins as I can!" I quickly flew low to the ground and waited for my fuel to reach 10%. More than enough for combat, and close enough to the ruins.

"So, you mean to tell me that in the month you had to plan this, you didn't think about your acute fear of heights?" I asked. He gave me an embarrassed look.

"Shut up..._partner_."

"_GRRRRR_!" came several growls from behind us. We turned to find a whole pack of Beowolves. I felt proud that I could recognize them, but that was quickly replaced by excitement. I was finally going to test my babies out! Darce gave me a grin.

"You ready?"

"Oh, yea!" I propelled myself to the nearest Grimm and punched it in the face. It gave a small whine, then a growl. I'd only pissed it of. "Shit!" I cried as I dodged a clawed swipe. I blocked its second attempt, and fired the main cannon of my other hand into its torso. It flew back and knocked into another Beowolf. Getting an idea, I jetted over to a different Beowolf and grabbed its tail before it could react. I swung it around, hitting several Grimm in the process.

"**I WILL BEAT A MOTHERFUCKER,**" I shouted, "**WITH ANOTHER MOTHERFUCKER!**" Darce chuckled. He'd dispatched his share of Grimm with his sniper rifle, Gemino, while I'd been up close and personal. It reminded me of our different fighting styles in video games back on earth. I was always the Orc warrior, using two handed weapons and heavy armor. He was the Khajiit mage/archer, with his one handed weapons, bow and arrow, magic, and light armor. I was the sledge hammer, he was the knife. I smiled at the memory, even as I dodged another swipe from a Grimm. I smiled even wider when I realized he now _was_ a Khajiit. He'd always had a thing for cats.

_**Darce:**_

I switched from Gemino to Nihil and quickly slashed through a Beowolf that was dumb enough to charge at me. Then I changed to Aut and blasted three others out of existence. All the while I felt my grin get bigger and bigger. Then I felt it drop; this was too easy. I wasn't complaining, the grimm seemed to be fighting with the same skill level as in the show: it was me who was too strong. And that made no sense, I'd only been training for _two_ _months_. Everyone _on_ the show had been training for years and I was on the same level as them. _How?_

This distracted me from the battle so much that one Grimm nearly took off my head. I ducked, quickly drew out my sword, and sliced it in half Darth Maul style. I looked around to find that it was the last of them. I sheathed and holstered my weapons, and walked over to my little brother.

"Hey, Gray, do you think that was too easy?" He narrowed his eyes at me.

"Do you _really _think this was a trap?"

"No, I'm just saying that we've only been training for two months, and yet we're on the same skill level as the rest of them, who've been training for several years."

"Hmm…" He thought about this, "You're right. Do you think the portal gave us that, too?"

"_So_, its turned us into fanus, enhanced most of our physical attributes tremendously, _and_ gave us these skills?", I asked, "Who ever sent us here wanted us to be huntsmen, and messed with our bodies _a lot_ to make sure we didn't die. At least not too fast. That explains most of it, except for the whole fanus thing we got going on." He nodded, and we followed the path to the ruins while we thought in silence. Suddenly we heard a _Whoosh!_ and saw smoke rise from maybe a mile away. Gray looked to me.

"What happened?"

"Weiss and Ruby are fighting a pack of Grimm." He flinched.

"Ruby got partnered with _her_?"

"Don't worry, Weiss becomes a lot nicer later on because of it."

"Then why did you help me out when she picked on me." I found it weird that he would call it 'getting picked on' when actually she was being more than a little racist.

"Because that's no excuse for insulting my little brother. The ruins are just over there, let's move."

_**A half hour later:**_

"'Just over here' he said. 'It won't be _that_ _long_' he said," Gray growled mockingly. We still had yet to find the ruins. Suddenly, a giant Nevermore flew over-head.

"WE'RE FINE! STOP WORRYING!" I heard Ruby yell over the wind. I turned to Gray.

"Follow that Nevermore!" We quickly ran after it, and it lead us right to the ruins. We saw Yang and Blake standing around. Yang had yet to notice the Nevermore above her.

"Blake, did you hear that? What should we do?" She was referring to Jaune's scream earlier, which Gray hadn't heard. Blake pointed up. We all looked to see a falling Ruby.

"HEADS UUUP!" Her scream was mixed with Jaune's as he collided with her mid-air.

"What the hell was that?!" Gray yelled.

This was about to get interesting.

_**Mysterious cliff hanger is not really that mysterious if you've watched RWBY, which I recommend you do before reading this. Probably something I should put in the **_**_summary, but whatever._**

**_seriously, though, I hope you enjoyed this. Please leave a review telling me if I did something wrong. Or good. Or you have a question. Or you just want to say "Hi". While you're at it, follow and fav. It'd really make my day. I always make a weird squealing noise when I see someone follow or fav, and my brother always looks at me like I'm choking._**

**_To answer a few questions before they're asked: Yes, Gray is based off of my IRL brother. Darce is based off of me. Those aren't our real names, that's private information that I'm not just going to hand out to the internet._**


	5. I go to battle

_**Curious as to where the first two guys from the trailers went? Stick around.**_

**_Enjoy!_**

Ch. 4: I go to battle

_**Darce:**_

"Where the hell did he come from?!" Gray asked, surprised by Jaune's sudden appearance. Explosions stopped me from answering as an Ursa came out of the tree line. A pink puff of energy appeared out of its back and it fell over, dead.

"Nora?! Really?!" Gray yelled. Nora came over to the chess pieces behind us and started singing.

"NORA!" Ren yelled. She giggled.

"Coming Ren!" Gray looked over to me.

"Are they…?"

"No, they're not 'together-together'."

"Ruby!" Yang cried out as she sees her little sister.

"Yang!" they both hold out their arms for a hug when-

"Nora!" -Nora ruined the moment, jumping in the middle of them and knocking them both off balance. Suddenly Pyrrha came rushing at us with the Deathstalker. Blake was about to say something when Yang exploded, figuratively and literally.

"I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! CAN EVERYONE JUST CHILL OUT FOR TWO SECONDS BEFORE SOMETHING _CRAZY_ HAPPENS AGAIN?!" A moment of silence granted her wish before Ruby tugged on Yang's arm.

"Umm...Yang…" she pointed up to Weiss, who was still dangling off the Nevermore's talon.

"How could you leave me?" She cried.

"Gee, I wonder." I heard Gray murmur to himself, having also calmed down.

"I said 'jump'!"

"She's gonna fall." Blake commented.

"She'll be fine." Ruby said dismissively.

"She's falling." Ren noted. And falling she was. Half way down, Jaune jumped out of the tree he'd just freed himself from and caught her.

"Hold on!" He said, instead of the cheesy pickup line he'd used in the show. Then he called out to his partner, "Pyrrha!"

She ran towards him and caught them both as they came within arms reach of her.

"I've got you!" She carried them both bridal style to the rest of us and collapsed onto the ground.

"Great, the gang's all here. Now we can die together!" Yang said sarcastically.

"Not if I can help it!" She gave a battle cry as she charged at the Deathstalker. Gray reached out a hand to stop her, but I held him back.

"Let this happen." I said to him. He gave me a look, but nodded anyway.

"Ruby, wait!" Yang cried out. Too late, Ruby was already going too fast to stop, even if she wanted to. She struck the Deathstalker...and pretty much bounced right off of it. She quickly picked herself off the ground and turned to us.

"D-do-don't worry! Totally fine!" She said unconvincingly. She slowly turned back to the Grimm and gave a half-hearted shot to its face. That just pissed it off more. She turned and ran, sheathing her scythe. Yang ran towards her sister to help.

"Ruby!" Suddenly the Nevermore let out a caw and launched a volley of feathers at the small girl, pinning her cloak to the ground and stopping Yang in her tracks. Gray tried to pull out of my hands, but I continued to hold him back. _Just a little more..._

"Ruby, get out of there!" Yang yelled from behind the feathers.

"I'm trying!" She replied, yanking at her hood. The Deathstalker poised its tail for a killing blow, and Ruby stared at it in horror.

"Ruby!" Yang called out again. A white blur rushed past all of us, and then there was a sound of ice forming.

"You are _so_ childish." Came Weiss' voice. That was all of the conversation we could hear. Gray gave a sigh of relief.

"Was all of that _really_ necessary?" he asked.

"Entirely." I replied.

_**Gray:**_

"Guys," Jaune pointed to the sky, "That thing's circling back. What're we gonna do?"

"Look, there's no sense in dilly-dallying. Our objective is right in front of us." Weiss said, and gestured to the relics.

"She's right, our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the Cliffs. There's no point in fighting these things."

"Run and live. That's an idea I can get behind!" Jaune said.

"I'm game." I said.

"Then let's grab them and get gone!" Darce said. I went over to the closest one and grabbed it. A cracking noise came from the Deathstalker.

"Time we left!" Ren called out.

"Right, let's go!" Ruby said, and we all ran towards the Cliffs.

_**later:**_

The Nevermore caught up to us as we were going through another set of ruins. We all hid behind pillars as it settled on top of some kind of tower and screeched at us.

"The Deathstalker will be here any moment now, we'll focus on that. Avoid the Nevermore, got it?" Darce whispered to me.

"Weren't we supposed to get the relics _before_ any of this happened!"

"Are you complaining?" I grinned at him.

"Not really, no."

"Good." He said as the Deathstalker came bursting out of the trees.

"Aw, man! Run!" Jaune yelled. I was about to charge it, but Darce held me back again.

"Not yet." I nodded. Darce knew more about what would happen next, but this was starting to get annoying. We ran past Pyrrha on a bridge.

"Go, go!" She yelled. When we got to just before the middle of the bridge, the Nevermore crashed into the beams supporting the old bridge.

"NOW!" Darce cried out. I turned and charged at the Deathstalker (FINALLY!), dodging its pincers and punching it in the face. Blake was next to me, slashing at it. I looked back to see that Pyrrha and Ren were firing away. Darce had his sniper rifle in full railgun mode, firing silenced shots at the Grimm. It deflected these with its armored pincers, but it still looked like it hurt. A loud explosion came from behind us, and suddenly Nora was above me, striking the Deathstalker with a giant hammer. I was pushed back by the force of her hit and I landed next to Darce.

"A giant hammer? Really? How cliche is that?!" He just smiled at me and continued firing. Nora propelled herself off of the Grimm and knock into Blake, sending her off of the edge.

"She'll be fine, keep fighting!" Darce said. Suddenly the bridge started to collapse.

"We gotta move!" Jaune cried out. We all rushed forward to get to safety, but the Deathstalker was in our way. It tried to attack Pyrrha, but she blocked it with her shield and slashed it with her sword. It saw an opening and tried again, but Jaune was there with his own shield. Ren charged at it, firing his guns. The Grimm tried to hit him with its stinger, but Ren climbed onto it and shot at the tendons holding it to the tail. Nora was firing her grenade launcher (Really!?) at it and it blocked with its claws. When it moved its pincers out of the way, Pyrrha threw her spear into one of its eyes. It cried out and it shook its tail, flinging Ren into a wall.

"Ren!" Nora cried out. I charged at the creature next, getting past its defences and grabbing the spear. I stabbed it deeper, gave it a twist, and pulled it out. Dodging out of the way of another attack, I ran back to Pyrra and gave her back her weapon.

"Pyrrha!" Jaune said pointing at its stinger, which was now hanging loosely. She saw what he meant.

"Done." she threw her shield like Captain America and severed the stinger, causing it to fall onto the creature's head and stab into it.

"Nora, nail it!" Jaune cried.

"Heads up!" Nora jumped into Pyrrha's raised shield and propelled herself several dozen feet into the air. She fell fast and brought her hammer down hard onto the stinger, driving it right through its head. Unfortunately, this also caused the bridge to fling us right over the monster and crashing into the ground behind it. The bridge having been destroyed, the Grimm's body went down with it. After that, we watched the others take down the Nevermore and headed back to Beacon.

_**Darce, back at Beacon:**_

"Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nicos, Nora Valkyrie. You four retrieved the white rook pieces, from this day forward you shall work together as: Team JNPR. Lead by: Jaune Arc." There was an applause as they got off the stage.

"Murphy Machina, Aries Anemone, Darce and Gray Forge." Gray and I walked onto the stage with two guys we'd never met before, "You four retrieved the black rook pieces, from this day forward you shall work together as: Team AMGD (Armageddon). Lead by: Murphy Machina." The two guys turn to us, one looked tired and shy, the other looked excited. The excited one put out his hand.

"I'm Murphy! We'll be working together for four years, so just call me Murph!" He had dark brown hair and eyes, his shirt was a muted red and his wide grin was a little unsettling. We shook his hand and he gestured to his partner, "This is Aries! He's not much of a talker, but he's a good guy. Good in a fight, to!" Aries nodded his head at us, avoiding our eyes. He was very pale, had short purple hair, yellow eyes, and a loose fitting green t-shirt with matching baggy pants. He looked like a big flower. Then I noticed something rather obvious; Murphy had a tail. A fox tail.

"So you're a faunus, too?" I asked gesturing to Gray's and my own ears. His smile grew.

"Yea, but Aries here isn't."

"I'm human, but I'm not like those bullies who think that faunus are lesser." I could just barely hear him, his voice was so quiet. Murphy's grin grew.

"Aries seems to trust you guys. He's a very good judge of character!" Murphy said. Just then, the ceremony ended and we were all sent to our dorms.

"Come on, the dorms are this way!" he gestured us towards him.

"How do you know?" Gray asked. Murphy just grinned.

"It's my semblance!"

"What?"

"I can see the immediate fate of those around me."

"You can see the future?"

"It's a bit more complicated than that but, basically, yes. All the first years around us are fated to congregate in that building over there." He pointed to one of the buildings nearby.

"Well, then, what are we waiting for?" I said and started walking. Gray quickly caught up to me and whispered into my ear.

"So, what's their story, and how much of the plot did I change when I grabbed the black rook and got us teamed up with them? And, most importantly, can they be trusted?"

"I have no idea." I said bluntly. He looked confused.

"I thought you were obsessed with this show!"

"I am, they're not in it. I've never even heard of them." Gray furrowed his eyebrows.

"So they're an unknown variable. That doesn't make me very comfortable." I almost tried to reassure him by saying that Beacon wouldn't admit an untrustworthy person into their school, but then I remembered Cardin and his crew. Also, Jaune was able to sneak into the school, as well as Cinder and her lackeys, why not others? The more I thought about it, the more unnerved I became. For all I knew, these two could be with the White Fang. Murphy _said_ that Aries was human, but that could be easily faked. I sighed, I was overthinking this; There was no indication that these two were anything other than what they seemed. Until there was evidence otherwise, I would give them the benefit of the doubt.

"We'll trust them...for now. But be on guard." I told him. He nodded silently and we arrived at the dorms. Murphy unlocked the doors and burst through.

"Dorm, sweet dorm! Don't bother unpacking, we'll do that tomorrow! For now, let's just get ready for bed!" Murphy said excitedly. We did so, and as we were settling into our beds I saw Murphy and Aries put away their weapons. Murphy had two pistols with knives retracted into the sides of the grips. Aries' weapon was weird, though. He reached out his hand and what looked like living rope came out of his sleeve and coiled itself into a tight ring on top of his dresser.

Tomorrow would certainly be interesting.

_**That's all for now, hope you liked it! What do you think of Aries and Murph? What about Murphy's semblance? Don't forget to follow and fav, and I'll see you next week!**_


	6. I get my semblance

_**So, I recently received**____**a review, and let me just say: It's is exactly what I've been waiting for.**_

_**I post stories on this site to grow as an author (my dream job) and that is difficult when no one is saying if what I'm doing is good or not! I've gotten a few reviews before, but none of them went into detail like this one.**_

**_He/she told me what I've been doing wrong, and that tells me what not to do in the future, so I hope the rest of you can follow his/her lead when next leaving me a review!_**

**_Anyway, without further ado, please enjoy my newest installment!_**

Ch. 5: I get my semblance

_**Gray:**_

An alarm clock buzzed next to me, waking me up with a groan. Today was the first day of school. I got up, nudged Darce awake (He could sleep through a war), grabbed my uniform, and headed off to the bathroom to get dressed. I tried the knob, but it was locked so I knocked. A soft mumbling came from inside.

"It's Aries, he says 'occupied'." Murphy said from his bed. How the hell had he heard _that? I _was standing right in front of the door and I didn't even hear him!

"Mornin', bro." Darce greeted sleepily, waving at me. I waved back and set my clothes down onto the counter.

"Good morning, how was your sleep?"

"Good. Yours?"

"Good. So, Murphy," I said, addressing our new team leader, "What're we doing today?"

"Well, first things first: Unpacking and decorating."

"Gray and I have already unpacked," Darce said. "All we have are clothes, and Gray's rubik's cube." Aries choose that moment to leave the bathroom. I hurried in and quickly changed. Upon walking out, I noticed that the other half of team AMGD was halfway unpacked already.

"You guys pack light." I noted.

"Not much to pack." Aries said, just loud enough to make out.

"He's right, we didn't have much to begin with." Murphy said, his usual grin dropping slightly. then I realized something, Murphy and Aries seemed very comfortable around each other for two guy who'd only met yesterday. Unless they didn't.

"How long have you two known each other?" I asked. Murphy aimed a sad grin at me.

"For as long as either of us care to remember. We grew up in the same orphanage." There was an awkward silence.

"Oh." Darce and I said dumbly. Murphy laughed at our expressions.

"Why so glum? It's not like we remember much about our parents anyway."

"Well, we kinda went through the same thing." Darce said. I was confused until it came to me, and a renewed sadness washed through me.

"Our parents aren't dead, just...lost." I explained.

"Oh. Well, no need to dwell on that now; class begins in," He looked at the cloak, and froze, "FIVE MINUTES! Run!" We all immediately jumped off of our beds and did as we were told. Down the hall, teams RWBY and JNPR were also rushing out of their dorms.

"We're going to be late!" I heard Jaune say from behind us.

"Not helping, Jaune!" I shouted.

"Sorry!" He shouted back.

When we finally arrived at our first class, we stopped for breath.

"Hey, Murph." I said.

"What?"

"What are our classes? I never got a schedule."

"Oh, yea. I forgot. Here." He handed us our class schedules, "Most of our classes are together. First off is Grimm Studies with Professor Port." Darce groaned at this.

"What?" I asked.

"I've heard of Port. He's got a reputation as a rather...long winded speaker." As Darce spoke, small ripples of shadow seeped from the sleeves and collar of his hoodie.

"What's that?" I asked, pointing at it. Darce looked down and saw it.

"I don't know! Get away from it!" He pushed me away from him and backed away like he expected to explode. The ripples drifted a small distance from him and took the form of an overweight elderly man with a monopoly man mustache. "That's...professor Port!" Darce exclaimed, then a wide grin spread across his face "Wait a minute… There's another professor I've heard of, professor Oobleck. He's tall, skinny, and has green hair and glasses, with a habit of moving and speaking very fast." _why is he talking about some other guy when someone just appeared out of-_, my thought was interrupted when more ripples appeared and formed into a guy matching Darce's description.

"I DID IT! MY SEMBLANCE!" Darce fistpumped the air and jumped around. I went over to the two men and tried to touch them. My hand went right through them.

"You can create illusions with your voice?"

"No, dearest brother of mine! I can tell STORIES!" Then I understood. Semblances were tied with personality, and there was nothing in this world that Darce loved more than reading or telling a story. Everything from anime and books to creepypasta and Fanfiction (he even tried his hand at writing some, thus confirming that he had no life or friends). His semblance allowed him to make people see what he wanted them to see. And like a story, these illusions couldn't do much in terms of physical damage, but they could sure act like it. I actually felt pretty stupid for not seeing it before.

"So, they're not real?" Murphy asked.

"Nope!" Darce looked even happier than he'd been these last two months. Which was pretty damn happy.

"Does it really require your voice?" I asked.

"No idea, let's see." He held out his hand and concentrated. Suddenly another Darce appeared in front of him. "Sweet!" Darce exclaimed and he high fived his clone. His hand passed through the illusion, but he didn't seem to care. The bell rung, breaking his concentration. The clone disappeared, and we went into the classroom to take our seats.

_**Darce:**_

I was going to have a lot of fun with my new semblance. My mind was teeming with ideas of the uses it had, but I would first have to learn its limits. Not now, but definitely sometime soon. My thoughts, however, were interrupted by professor Port clearing his throat.

"Monsters, demons, prowlers of the night. Yes; the creatures of the night have many names, but I merely refer to them as _prey_! Ha-ha!" There was momentary silence as the older man waited for praise. Gray nudged me.

"You weren't kidding. Is this guy for real?" He asked, and I nodded. In the seat in front of us, Ruby was battling sleep.

"And you shall to," Our instructor continued, "upon graduating this prestigious academy." Gray and I stopped listening. I'd already heard this speech on the show back on earth, and Gray...well, he didn't have a particularly long attention span.

"So, illusions, huh? That's pretty cool." Gray said. I smiled.

"I know, right? I'm mostly just happy I finally discovered my semblance."

"Why are they called 'semblances' anyway?"

"Two months, and _now_ you ask?"

"Hey, I've been focused on more important things." He said defensively.

"Like playing with your Rubix-cube? Anyway, they're called that because they reflect, or have a _semblance_ to, your personality in some way."

"Really? I mean, I know about the whole personality thing, but that's it?"

"I'm pretty sure, yea."

"Ayyy-YEA!" Shouted a student on the opposite side of the room, raising his fist. After everyone just stared at him, he sat down embarrassed.

"Who the hell is he?"

"Someone who pays too much attention to professor Port." I said.

"How does one pay 'too much attention' in school?"

"Have you been listening at all to him?"

"No, why?"

"Just listen for a bit." And we did.

"Despite smelling of cabbages, my grandfather was a wise man-"

"Nope, nevermind. Can't do it." Gray said, he was already slid back in his chair and blinking rapidly so as not to close his eyes and sleep.

"When he clears his throat, that's our cue to listen, okay?"

"Alright, when will that be?"

"Any second now." A few moments passed, and we heard it.

"Ah-ha-hem!...In the end, the Beowolf was no match for my sheer tenacity, and I returned to my village with the beast in captivity and my head held high. Celebrated as...a hero!" He gave a bow, as if expecting us to applaud him. Though, he didn't look too disappointed when we didn't.

"The moral of this story? A true Huntsman must be honorable! A true Huntsman must be dependable! A true Huntsman must be strategic, well-educated, and wise! So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?" Weiss angrily raised her hand.

"I do, sir!"

"Yes, because the Schnees have _never_ done _anything_ unhonorable!" Gray sneared.

"Quiet, Dog breath!" She shouted at him and turned back to the professor.

"Well then, let's find out! step forward, and face your opponent!" He gestured to a cage to his side. A growl came from it, and glowing red eyes could be seen from within. Weiss quickly ran off to get changed into her combat attire.

"What's eating her?" Gray asked.

"She believes she should've been the team leader instead of Ruby."

"Of course she does! Thats how the rich and snooty always think." Gray snarled out. I could tell that he didn't have anything against rich people, just Weiss. He has always had a severe dislike of people like her, who believed the world owed them everything, and whose family got their riches off of forced labor.

When Weiss returned, she went to the front of the class and brought her rapire forward. The growling from inside became louder, as if the Grimm inside could feel the coming battle.

"Go, Weiss!" Yang cheered.

"Fight well!" Blake added, waving a little flag.

"Yea, represent team RWBY!" Ruby yelled. Weiss glared at her.

"Ruby! I'm trying to focus!"

"Oh, um…sorry."

"Where'd Blake get a team flag? I want a flag!" Gray asked and demanded.

"I think there's a student store or something." I replied.

"Alright! Let the match...Begin!" Professor Port shouted, using his axe to open the lock on the door of the cage. The door fell open, revealing a Boarbutusk that immediately charged at Weiss. She quickly spun and used her sword to redirect it. The Grimm ran a small distance before stopping and turning around to face her.

(_**A/N: For the sake of space, I'll ignore the professor's comments.**_)

"Hang in there Weiss!" Ruby cheered. Weiss charged at the Boarbutusk, but it hooked its tusk around her blade.

"Come on, Weiss! Show it who's boss!" Ruby continued. Weiss struggled with the beast for a bit before the Grimm yanked the sword out of her hands and it flew to the other side of the room. Weiss lost her balance and fell to the ground, looking up just fast enough to dodge out of the way of the monster's charge. She ran and grabbed her rapire from the ground.

"Weiss, go for its underbelly! there's no armor underneath-"

"Stop telling me what to do!" Weiss interrupted.

"She's your team leader! That's what she's supposed to do!" Gray cried out angrily. She huffed and turned back just in time to see the beast spinning at her. She hurriedly made two glyphs; one to block the creature, and another to launch her at its exposed underbelly and skewer it. The Grimm gave a shriek, and was silent. Weiss crouched next to it for a moment, panting from exhaustion.

"Bravo, bravo. It appears we are indeed in the presents of a true huntress-in-training! I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Be sure to cover the assigned readings, and stay vigilant! Class dismissed!" Surprisingly, the class was still for a moment, no one rushed to the door. But the moment passed and the room was hastily emptied.

_**Gray:**_

When lunch came around I ran to the front of the line. When I had my food, I looked for a table to sit at. I saw Darce sitting with teams RWBY and JNPR and thought '_meh, why not?_'. I took a seat next to Darce and said my hellos.

"So, Ruby and Jaune are team leaders now, huh? Who would've thought that when we were taking that walk, just two days ago, that I was walking beside, not one, but two future leaders! congrats, you guys!"

"Thanks! To be completely honest, I'm not sure what Ozpin was thinking when he made me leader, but I'll try and make the best of it!" said Jaune.

"Me too!" Ruby agreed. Yang hugged her sister, Blake was reading a book and not really paying attention, while Weiss seemed to be picking at her food, like she was mulling something over. Team JNPR were all high-fiving.

"Hey, guys, I hear we're going to have Combat Training together tomorrow." said Darce.

"Sounds fun! Can't wait to fight some of the other students!" Yang said excitedly.

"Who do you think would win in a fight, you or Gray? You two have similar fighting styles and weapons." He asked. As if the answer wasn't-

"Well, yea, but I think I pack a little more punch than him. No offence, but you're pretty scrawny." I gave an exaggerated gasp. Nobody calls me scrawny!

"Them's fightin' words. I could totally take you!" Now Yang looked offended.

"Oh, yea?"

"Yea!"

"Fine then! Tomorrow will be war!"

"Bring it!"

"On that note," Darce said, changing the subject, "I also hear that Prof. Goodwitch will be teaching that class." I nearly spat out my apple juice.

"Aw, hell! She's a teacher? I thought she was, like, Ozpin's assistant or something!"

"I think she's both." Darce clarified.

"Hmm. Anyway, Blake; Who do _you_ think would win in a fight, you or Darce? You two _also_ have a lot in common when it comes to fighting, don't you?" This caught Blake's attention long enough to pull her out of her book and respond.

"I don't know, I didn't see Darce fight enough to get a feel for his strength level." Darce looked slightly embarrassed at this.

"I prefer fighting at a distance to weaken defences. When I draw out Nihil, I go full out." Blake crooked an eyebrow at this.

"I'd like to see this." She said coolly.

"Friendly spar?"

"Sure." Blake shrugged and went back to her book.

Today was just full of tomorrows.

_**Hope you liked it! Don't forget to follow and fav. And, as always, REVIEW! Seriously, I cannot stress it enough.**_

_**See you next week!**_


	7. I fight and stuff

Ch. 6: I fight well

_**Gray:**_

Today was the day. I was going to show Yang and Cardin that Gray Forge was no one to fuck with. Earlier that day, I'd asked Darce if I could borrow some of his spare blue dust. He shrugged and handed it over. Afterword, I covertly watched Cardin open his locker (rocket propelled. I love this school!). Memorizing his combination, I waited for him to leave, and when he was gone, I opened his locker and placed the vial of blue dust on the bottom. I then attached two wires to it and placed the other ends on the door. Before I closed it, I placed a cookie on top of the vial. Act of revenge two of twelve: complete. Now to focus on the upcoming fight.

I changed from my uniform to my combat gear: a dragon scale shirt with comfortable jeans and metal shin guards, with Scorpion of course. I had decided on dragon scale because it was the strongest armor I could think of that didn't compromise mobility. Unlike my brother, who mostly focused on speed, I tried to be strong _and_ fast. I found that most people take one look at me and think '_that guy's way too skinny to be a threat, plus he's too far away.'_ That's usually the part where I punch them in the face. When they finally figured out I am more than a threat, they would focus primarily on me, and Darce would always capitalize on this with a well placed blow from Nihil.

I walked out onto the arena. Darce wouldn't be here to back me up if I made a mistake, but that was fine. He had told me the 'do's-and-don'ts' of fighting Yang over breakfast. Well,...mostly _don'ts_. _don't_ damage her hair, _don't_ let her semblance build up, etc. When I was in position, Yang walked out.

"My money's on the human." I heard Cardin say to one of his teammates. They laughed, of course they laughed. I'd only be a fanus for a few months, and I was already sick of people like _them_.

"You ready?" Yang asked.

"Yep, and do me a favor?"

"What?"

"Don't hold back, I want to know how strong I am." She smiled at this.

"Sure thing."

"Begin!" Prof. Goodwitch announced.

We both charged at each other. I blocked a right hook and sent her a jet-propelled uppercut in retaliation. This only made her stumble backwards a bit. She shook it off immediately and let loose a barrage of punches. I tried to dodge and block them, but a few got through. My arua took most of the damage, but it still hurt. I noticed my pain tolerance was a lot higher than what it was back on earth. She finished her assault with a blow to my torso, sending me back a small distance. I shrugged it off and smiled. Time to show her my Scorpion's tails.

I thrust my hands forward and launched the blades hidden inside my vambraces. They flew at her, but she dodged just in time. I used my aura to control the chains attached to the blades, bending them to point Yang's way. She wasn't quick enough this time and they wrapped around one of her legs. I yanked her off balance and she fell. She tried to get back up, but I dragged her across the floor and hitting her against walls and pillars before she could.

"I told you I'd mop the floor with you!" I taunted. She flashed me a glare and flipped onto her hands, quickly spinning around and coiling the chains around her legs. I didn't know what she hoped to accomplish with this until the chains grew taut and _I_ was the one being thrown about.

"And _I_ told _you_ that I pack more of a PUNCH!" She had wrapped the rest of the chain around herself and I was in range of her free foot, which she sent right into my jaw. She stopped spinning and I released her from my chains. We both quickly distanced ourselves from each other and took fighting poses.

"Hey! That was a kick, not a punch!" I complained.

"Whatever." She said dismissively. We charged again and we both hit the other in the face. We simultaneously fell onto the floor, exhausted. A buzzer sounded.

"Tie match." Called Prof. Goodwitch.

"Aww! You've gotta be kidding!" I yelled.

"Both of your auras went into the red at the same time. In a tournament style duel, this would indicate that neither of you are fit for battle." We got up from the floor and smiled at each other.

"Hey, nice match!" Yang complimented me.

"Not so bad yourself." We got off the arena and went to our seats.

"Are there any volunteers for the next match? We have time for one more." Darce and Blake raised their hands, "Mr. Forge, Ms. Belladonna. You're up, then."

_**Darce:**_

Blake and I walked onto the arena. Blake's face was as blank as a mask, displaying no emotions. My hand rested on Nihil's handel, and I gripped it uneasily. This would be my first real fight. The Beowolves were too easy to count and I'd stayed in the background when fighting the Deathstalker.

There would be no hiding on an arena this small and flat, especially against an ex-thief like Blake. I briefly wondered if my enhanced reflexes would be enough to catch her ballistic chain-scythe, but scrapped that idea. It was too risky, I needed a more solid approach if I was going to win. I wouldn't be able to concentrate enough while inside combat to use my semblance, so that was another advantage taken away. She seemed to be studying me as much as I was her. We took fighting stances and waited. I'd just have to wing it.

"Begin!" our instructor shouted. Neither of us moved, waiting for the other to make the first attack. After a moment of stillness, we slowly drew our weapons. In a blur of movement, Blake flew at me and slashed at me with her large sword. I parried and we struggled for a moment trying to overpower the other. I pulled my trump card and electrified my blade, shocking her by extension. She let out a yelp and dropped her sword. Seeing that she was unarmed, I jumped backwards to give her some room to recover her weapon. She quickly took the opportunity and retrieved her sword. Our eyes locked and we began to walk in a slow circle.

"So, being a fanus, you must face a lot of discrimination. Yet you seem to not mind." Blake apparently wanted to make small talk.

"Nothing I can't handle." I assured her.

"It would be so easy to hide it, why don't you?"

"Hiding what I am would imply that I'm ashamed of it. Sure, I could wear a hat or something, but that would be like wearing a blindfold because some people don't like blue eyes." She almost looked angry at this.

"That's not really true-"

"Isn't it? So what if I have cat ears? I love these things! Take one look at them! They're adorable!" Now she looked slightly amused. "Whop, careful Blake, I saw your bow twitch." I said just quietly enough for her to hear. Her eyes widened a bit and she went pale.

"Get on with the fight already!" Cardin yelled.

"Silence in the peanut gallery, asshole!" I yelled back. When I turned my attention back to Blake, she'd already covered most of the distance between us. She was already too close to block with Nihil, but a plan came to me. I quickly dropped my sword and clapped my hands around the sides of her katana, ready to electrify it again. Seeing what I was about to do, she released her sword, slid onto the ground, grabbed my sword, continued to slide between my legs, came back up behind me, and held my own sword against my throat. I dropped Blake's weapon and raised my hands above my head. My plan had failed miserably.

"I forf-" I began.

"Who sent you?" Blake harshly whispered into my ear.

"What? No one!"

"Then how did you know?"

"I began to suspect when you were reading that night in the ballroom with that bow on and I thought I saw it move. My suspicions were just confirmed by your actions." She pressed the blade harder into my skin. I noted that she was, indeed, using the cutting edge.

"If I find out you're lying-"

"I'm not!" There was a moment of silence before she let go of Nihil. I let out a sigh of relief as she walked away.

"He forfeits." She told professor Goodwitch. She looked over at me for confirmation. I nodded.

"The winner is Blake Belladonna. This was quite a match, not much aura was lost at all." Our teacher commented. I walked back to my seat between Gray and Aries.

"Well, that was...boring. You guys barely even hit each other! At least I tied!"

"That's only because she held back, bro." I informed him.

"What!? She did not!"

"You think a huntress who's been training her whole life and is powered by her opponents kinetic energy would be knocked out by a five minute scuffle? She didn't even use the shotgun function of her gauntlets."

"Her aura went into the red!"

"Yes, because she was discreetly putting her aura down as you were flinging her around with your chains." He was dumbfounded.

"Why would she do that?!"

"Because she heard Cardin's comment and didn't want him getting the satisfaction of being right, but neither did she want to hand you the win." Aries mumbled out. Hearing Aries speak is weird, his voice sounds so quiet that you shouldn't be able to hear it, but somehow, no matter what other noises are blaring around you, you can always _just_ manage to hear him.

Gray was pissed now.

"How _dare_ she! I told her to not hold back!"

"Would you rather give Cardin another thing to laugh about?"

"I would rather have learned the limits of my strength! Besides, I not too worried about Cardin laughing for too long." a sly smile played across his face before he remembered that he was angry. _What was that?_ I decided to not press him.

_**Gray:**_

"Class dismissed." Prof. Goodwitch announced. We left to go to our dorms. As we passed the locker room, we heard a loud scream come from within.

"Someone in trouble!" Darce yelled, but I held him back. A lovely change, as he was usually holding _me_ back.

"It's Cardin." He immediately relaxed.

"Oh...Wait, how do you know?"

"He may or may not be dealing with electrical burns right now." understanding came into his eyes, and a smile to his face.

"I see."

Murphy and Aries had already gone ahead, so we walked and talked about nothing in particular. That is, until a thought occurred to me.

"Hey, Darce?

"What?"

"Where have I heard the name 'Glynda Goodwitch' before?" His smile grew.

"I was beginning to wonder if you'd catch on. I'll give you a hint: We're not in Kansas anymore." My palm immediately hit my forehead.

"The good witch of the north! She was really named after that?"

"Technically, yes. 'The Wizard of Oz' doesn't exist in Remnant. Our teacher is based off of her. And Ruby is based off of little red riding hood. Yang is goldilocks, Weiss is Snow White, and Blake is Beauty and the Beast. Everyone here is based off of something!"

"And what does that make you? 'Puss in Sneakers'?"

"Ha-ha. Very funny."

"Wait, then who the hell is Jaune?

"Jaune Arc, Joan of arc." I face palmed again. _No wonder he screamed like a girl._ Then another thought struck me.

"And what about Murphy?" He hesitated for a bit.

"If I had to guess, Murphy's law."

"'Anything that can go wrong, will'? Great, _that_ just _fills_ me with confidence!"

"Well, we'll just have to talk to him, won't we?"

"And say what? 'Hey, we think your name means that you have a hidden agenda, mind telling us what it is?'!"

"Calm down, we'll think of something. In the mean time, I've got a favor to ask you." He changed the subject rather forcefully.

"What?"

"I've got no idea how my semblance works or its limitations. Mind helping me out?"

"Sure. Where and when?"

"A balcony I know is a good spot to train, and now if possible." I shrugged.

"Fine by me." He gestured me to follow him, and we left.


	8. I get a rematch

**_Hey, guys. New chapter. Enjoy._**

**_WARNING: mostly character development meant_********_to answer questions that no one has asked but are important anyway._**

Ch. 7: I get a rematch

_**Gray:**_

Darce brought me to the balcony he mentioned. It seemed like a good spot to train, open enough to move and a great view of the school.

"So," Darce began, "before we begin-" the door we just came through suddenly slammed open.

"GRAY! I have a problem with you!" Came Weiss' voice. I turned to see her seething with anger. Most of which was aimed toward me.

"What now, Ice Queen?"

"I found dog excrement on my bed!"

"Wasn't me." I said simply.

"Oh, don't give me that! You useless, intolerable, self-centered-" And that's when I stopped paying attention. I blankly stared at her, half lidded, waiting for her to finish, when I noticed something: She was slowly flickering in and out. Eventually, she ceased to be.

"What the hell...?" I said, confused. I looked around, then over to Darce to see him smiling, "...Really?"

"She was an illusion, yes."

"Why did "_she_" disappear?"

"I don't know. Maybe it only lasts for so long." We stood in silence for a moment, thinking to ourselves.

"No," I said finally , "The other illusions lasted longer. I think she disappeared because I stopped paying attention."

"What do you mean?"

"If your semblance is based off of stories, what power does a story have over you if you're not listening?" He nodded at this.

"Makes sense. What if you actually believe it's real?"

"Well, I know already, so you can't test that on me."

"Let's try it out before making assumptions. I'll make another Weiss, and you tell her she's not real."

"Alright."

Ripples of shadow poured out of Darce's sleeve and another Weiss appeared where the previous one had just stood, "You're not real." And, before I even finished the sentence, "she" was gone again.

"Why didn't I see any weird shadow thing the first time?"

"Because I made her before we got up here. Now, let's get an unsuspecting _volunteer_." We looked over the balcony and spotted a crowd of students passing through. More shadowy ripples came from his sleeve and formed into a large, tentacled grimm.

"Hey, Darce. I get that you're into that, but let's keep this PG. Okay?"

"You take the fun out of everything." Darce said in what I hoped was sarcasm. The grimm roared at the students, and they screamed. It reached out and grabbed one. The student struggled, and I saw Darce furrow his eyebrows.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I can feel their fear fueling my 'story'."

"Well, that's not creepy at all."

"No, I'm serious. I think that my illusions are powered by the emotions they inspire."

"The best stories are the ones that can make the recipient feel anything at the drop of a hat."

"Well, this was educational. Thanks bro." he stood up and dispelled the monster.

"No problem, just one more question."

"Shoot."

"When you make an illusion, it's made from shadows from under your hood. Why?"

"I've asked myself the same question, and I think I know. The shadows come from my under my clothes because it's the nearest source of darkness. As for the darkness itself, isn't it what inspires stories the most?"

"What?" I asked, confused.

"When we were kids, we were terrified of the dark, right?"

"Right."

"Why?"

"Because we thought there were monsters hiding behind the shadows, probably why it's got such a bad rap."

"Though we never saw any monsters, or heard them."

"But we thought we did." I countered.

"And why was that?" He asked, then it hit me.

"Because we invented the monsters. The darkness fueled our imaginations."

"Bingo!"

"So you're not evil!"

"What?" Now he was confused.

"Well, you know all of those animes and books and video games where someone gets the power over darkness and it corrupts them? I thought this would be like that." I shrugged and Darce rolled his eyes. We turned and walked back off of the balcony.

_**Darce:**_

So, my stories are fueled by emotion. If I inspire enough, they can even physically affect things and people. I decided to try something out. Casually passing team CRDL's dorm room (conveniently close to the balcony I was exiting), I discreetly placed an illusion at the foot of the door. If my theory was correct, I could make "Trap" illusions. If the door opened, a monster would hopefully jump out and scream at who ever opened it.

I waited around for a little bit, then Cardin came walking through with that annoying swagger that I had grown to hate (He just got out of the medical ward for electrical burns on his hands, how the hell was he swaggering?!). Hiding myself in the shadows, I watched as Cardin opened his door and...entered without incident.

Damn.

So, no traps...what else? Well, I haven't tested out the vocal version of my semblance. I stalked through the halls and decided to pick a surprise volunteer (Read: victim) at random. A first year seemed to be wandering aimlessly, so I walked next to him and whispered.

"_Your greatest fear is right behind me._" He looked confused, then screamed as something appeared at my back. He quickly ran away, and I looked to see that my shadow had turned into a giant spider. I hurriedly dispelled it, spiders creep the hell out of me too.

Yes, today was educational indeed. I now knew that I can't lay traps, and that I can "personalize" my stories. Also, using my voice to cast illusions requires almost no concentration on my part, whereas using my mind to project them needed a lot. I smiled to myself as I walked back to my dorm.

As I entered I noticed that Gray hadn't gotten back yet. I thought he was heading straight here?

"You guys seen Gray?" I asked the others.

"Yea, he said he was going over to team RWBY's dorm to talk with Yang." Murphy said. Oh, shit; He was going to ask for a rematch! I quickly rushed over there to stop my brother from getting his ass handed to him on a silver platter. When I got there, I found Gray glaring at Yang angrily. Yang sighed at something he had said.

"Fine, you wanna fight, we'll fight. Let's go over to the gym." She said.

"Gray, what are you doing?! She's going to beat the living hell out of you!"

"Gee, glad to know you've got my back, _bro_." Gray said, his voice as angry as his glare. I sighed and walked with them to the gym, already knowing that I could never talk him out of a fight.

_**Gray:**_

When Darce was done making it abundantly clear who he thought was going to win, I put on my combat gear and enter the sparring arena again. I pointed at Yang accusingly.

"No holding back this time!"

She rolled her eyes at me.

"Oh, let your man-pride go."

"NO!" I shouted and charged her.

She was apparently prepared for this, as she easily knocked me to the side with a shotgun blast from her gauntlets. I quickly got up and tried to charge again, but was met with the same results. I lifted myself up again but decided to think through my next attack. I shot my Tails at her, but she was again prepared for this. Before they could wrap around her, she grabbed them just below the blades. I tried to pull her in but she was rooted to the spot. Then I was struck with a bolt of inspiration! Instead of pulling the chains, I gave them more slack. With the extra chains I used my aura to wrap them around her torso. She gave a small yelp as they tightened around her ribcage and lifted her up.

"Get over here!" I cried, paying homage to the famous Mortal Kombat character.

I threw her towards me, releasing her mid-throw. She was disoriented enough that she was flailing her arms instead of blocking the obvious follow-up attack I was going to send her way. When she reached me I delivered a jet propelled punch to her gut. She let out a groan as the wind was knocked out of her. I looked to the screen to see if I was winning yet. WHAT?! It said that Yang's aura was just barely in the yellow, what the hell! Unfortunately, I had become too distracted, and Yang got me square in the face and added pain to injury with another shotgun blast. After that things went blurry. We fought for maybe an hour before I went down. I think Darce rushed me to the medical ward at some point, because that's where I woke up with a killer headache. And stomachache, and pretty much an everything-ache. Darce was in a chair next to my bed, and I decided to ask him what the hell happened.

"You fought until your aura went into the red."

"She beat me?!"

"Yea. Close match, though."

"Really?"

"No. But she _is_ in the next room with some injuries as well. She says that that was the most fulfilling fight she's had in years and wants to know if you'll agree to be her sparring partner."

"That was the most fun I've had since I got here, hell yea! I didn't break anything, did I?"

"You're both fine, just bruises."

"I was shot in the face! With a shotgun powered by nature's wrath! how in the blood soaked hell am I fine?!"

"Aura is a wonderful thing, little bro."

"Really?"

"Yeap. Now get some rest, we've got school tomorrow."

"How much will I miss today?"

"None, you're sparring match ended a little over a half hour ago."

"Oh, I though I'd been out longer then that."

"Nope."

"Damn."

"The first day of school was yesterday, Gray, calm down." I sighed and laid my head back onto the pillow.

"Well, goodnight then."

"Goodnight." He replied getting up and leaving. When I was alone, I closed my eyes and went to sleep.

_**Darce:**_

When I left the medical ward, I decided it was time I finish some business of my own. I walked to team RWBY's dorm door and knocked. Ruby answered.

"Hmm? Oh, hey Darce."

"Hey, Ruby, is Blake here?"

"You're not going to ask her for a rematch too, are you?"

"No, but I do have a few things that we need to talk about."

"Okay. Hey, Blake, it's for you." Ruby opened to door wider and Blake appeared.

"Hey, what is it?"

"I just wanted to know why you held my own sword to my throat and threatened to end my life." Her eyes widened and she looked away.

"We should talk...elsewhere." She gave a sheepish look to her teammates. "I'll be right back."

"You threatened to kill him?" Weiss asked.

"Bye." Blake avoided the question and quickly left, grabbing my arm and dragging me away. We walked for a while in silence before Blake suddenly stopped.

"Here is good." She said.

"So, care to explain to me why you thought someone sent me? It's not like being a fanus is a crime, especially here in Beacon." I asked, pretending not to already know.

"I used to work with some...unsavory people. I left them and now I'm trying to make amends by being a huntress."

"You don't strike me as the kind of person to willingly associate with 'unsavory people'. Besides, it couldn't have been _that_ bad."

"Have you ever heard of the White Fang?" She asked. I remained silent for a moment before pretending to just now understand.

"Oh….Yes, I have. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I should be the one apologizing for threatening your life."

"It's cool. So, what kind of fanus are you." I asked to change the subject. In response, she looked around to make sure no one was watching, before removing her bow to reveal a pair of ears.

"Cat, like you." I gave her a wide grin.

"Cool, I knew you'd look better without the bow." She gave me an embarrassed look.

"I'd better get back to my team."

"Alright, I'll see you later. Oh, and Blake?"

"Hmm?"

"Come talk to me if you ever need to let your bow down, alright?" She gave me a small smile.

"I will, thank you."

"No problem." We parted and went to our separate dorms. Once there, I fist pumped: I'd gotten Blake's trust. No idea exactly how, but I did.

"Hey, Darce?" Murphy asked me.

"Hmm?"

"When Gray gets out of the medical ward tomorrow, I was thinking that we should do a team building exercise."

"Like what?"

"Well, originally it was going to be a sparring match, but since Gray's a little too banged up for that I was thinking maybe we could just hang out and get to know each other. It's been two days and you guys haven't been around much."

"Sounds great, tomorrow after school then. For now, I'm beat. Goodnight."

"'Night."

And with that, I crashed on my bed and went to sleep.

_**Next chapter will also contain a bit of development for the other half of team AMGD. Don't forget to follow, fav, and review!**_


	9. I talk with the team

_**Hey, Fanatics. Now, you all have probably heard by now that Monty Oum died two weeks ago. I didn't mention it in my previous two chapters because everyone else was already doing that, so I didn't think I needed to. But the truth is that he meant a lot to everyone in the RWBY or Red Vs. Blue fandoms. He will be missed dearly by thousands of people. May he rest in peace.**_

Ch. 8: I talk with the team

_**Darce:**_

The next morning, I got up early to go get my brother from the medical ward. When I got there, I found Gray already awake and waiting.

"Took you long enough."

"Good morning to you too, little bro. Why didn't you just check yourself out?"

"You can do that?"

"Yea."

"Damn. Oh well, let's just go." We left and immediately started heading to Grimm Studies. On our way, I told him about Murphy's "team building exercise". He didn't seem too eager about it.

"What are we going to say? It's not like we can just tell them the truth."

"Good point, but we can't avoid it either. We'll just have to play it by ear."

_That night, team AMGD's dorm:_

"So, who wants to start us off?" Murphy asked.

"I will. How did you and Aries first meet?" I replied.

He gave us his trademark smile and wagged his tail.

"I'd been in the orphanage for a few months when Aries arrived. Most of us thought he was mute. Until one day, I was gettn' wailed on by some bullies, he walks up and just starts whacking them with a big stick. When they ran away, he helps me up and tells me that the only reason he was alive was because a fanus huntsman had saved him from a pack of Grimm. His parents weren't so lucky. I never knew my parents, but I was told that they were killed by Grimm, too. Aries is a lot stronger than he looks, so he'd help me out whenever the other kids would attack me. We've been stuck together ever since. That answer your question?"

"Yea." I said meekly, I hadn't expected such a straightforward answer.

"Now it's my turn. You said something about your parents being lost?"

"We haven't seen them in months. We woke up one day and they were gone." Gray explained. "My turn: How exactly does your semblance work?"

"I can see fated events. In combat, I'm nearly untouchable and I never miss because I can see where they'll be before they get there. This has two drawbacks: The closer the person is to me emotionally, the less I see. Take Aries for example, if he wanted to kill me, I wouldn't see it coming. He's like a brother to me. The second drawback, that I've only recently discovered, is that you have to be from Remnant for it to work." He gave us meaningful glances. "I can't see your fates. They're outside of this world and therefore leave a gap where you stand. I can feel your..._extra_-ness, I guess."

"So you know?" Gray asked.

He nodded.

"How long have you been here?"

"Three months."

"So your parents are back where you came from?"

"Yes."

"I see."

"So, Aries, what's your semblance?" I asked, changing the subject.

"I can control wind."

"Is that how it seems that no matter how quiet you are, we can always hear you?"

"Yes."

"Cool."

"So, you're really going to ignore the fact that we're from another dimension?"

"Yeap!" Murphy said happily, "If you want to share, you're free to. Otherwise, it's none of our business. It's like I said, Aries is a great judge of character!"

"Alright, then. So, Murphy, we haven't seen much of your weapon, what is it?" Murphy's grin widened. He pulled out two pistols with knife blades on the top. He pressed a button on the side and the blades flipped to the hilt while the barrels of the guns went upwards. The final result had the both guns straightened out with long knives pointing opposite of the barrels.

"It's called 'Libra'. When they're like this, I can hold it in the middle while they spin really fast. I use the recoil of the gun part to spin it faster."

"Cool, what about you, Aries?" In response, he held out his hand. Suddenly, what looked like a mechanical grabber attached to a metal rope flashed out of his sleeve and grabbed a book from of one of our shelfs, then shot back into his shirt, leaving the book in his hand.

"it's name is Gleipnir. In it's normal state, it's about three feet long-"

"But it can stretch up to a hundred meters!" Murphy finished. "It has a grabber thingy on one end and a dagger on the other. Usually, Aries keeps it under his shirt like armor. He could take a direct hit, point blank, from an anti-tank rifle and shrug it off if he's got Gleipnir under there!"

"Have you tested this theory out?" I asked.

"Nope! Don't need to! Aries also has two times the normal amount of aura! So what isn't protected by his weapon is protected by his aura!"

"How the hell does he control it?"

"Just like how Gray controls his 'Tails'. With aura."

"So, any more questions?" Murphy asked.

"No, you?"

"Nope. Well, I guess it's time to hit the hay. 'Night guys." He got up and went to his bed. The rest of us quickly followed suit.

_**Gray, weeks later:**_

I watched with a pained expression as Jaune got his ass handed to him by Cardin. When Jaune was finally down for the count, I looked at their auras. Cardin didn't have a scratch on him.

Damn.

"Students," Goodwitch began, "As you can see, Mr. Arc's aura has dropped into the red. In a tournament style duel, this would indicate that Jaune is no longer fit for battle and that the official may call the match." She then went on to tell Jaune for the billionth time to check his scroll every so often so he wouldn't get his ass so pummeled. Then something about a festival, I wasn't really paying attention.

I'd gotten no sleep yesterday, I was up all night studying for a test in Prof. Peach's botany class. It turned out to be worth it, I aced it no problem. Back on earth, I was kind of a freak about plants. Unfortunately, Remnant plants were completely different, only a few species were even similar to earth plants.

Just another reminder that I was a long way from home.

It was moments like these that I find myself missing the smallest things from earth. The TV shows and video games were one of the first, followed closely by my missing of my friends and family. Oh, and you would not believe what it's like to have a good song stuck in your head and not be able to listen to it because it doesn't exist. Especially if you can't remember a few of the lines. It was hell for a while, but you get used to it.

It helped to have a group of interesting friends and crazy plots to destroy life as we know it in the near future to distract you. A bell signaled the end of class, pulling me out of my thoughts.

_**lunch, cafeteria:**_

"So, there we were, in the middle of the night." Nora said ominously.

"It was day." Ren corrected.

"We were surrounded by Ursi." Nora ignored him.

"They were Beowolves."

"_Dozens of them!_"

"Two of them."

"But they were no match, and Ren and I took them down and made a boatload of lien selling Ursa-skin rugs!" She crossed her arms proudly. Ren sighed.

"She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now." He elaborated. We all looked at Jaune, he'd been picking at his food since he sat down. It was kind of depressing.

"Jaune, are you okay?" Pyrrha asked.

"Hmm? Oh, yea. Why?"

"It's just that you seem a little..._not_ okay." Ruby replied.

"Guys, I'm fine. Seriously, look." He gave us a painfully obvious fake smile and forced laugh. He even added a weak thumbs up.

Suddenly, we heard the genuine, and cruel, laughter of Cardin a small distance from us. He and his team were bullying a fanus only a table away from us. The sad look on her face was the last straw for me.

"That asshole." I growled to myself. Darce and I shared a glance and he nodded. We both got up and walked over to him.

"Hey, Cardin," Darce began.

"Wha-" His snarky remark was cut of as I picked him up and threw him across the room. He landed with a satisfying crash.

"_Please_ leave her alone." He finished with a wide grin on his face.

"And if I see you harassing anymore fanus, I'll break your fucking legs!" I added, cracking my knuckles for effect. Darce found this a lot more hilarious than I'd meant it to be. The entire lunchroom was silent, no one moved or spoke. They were all shocked that someone _actually_ stood up to him. Everyone except the rest of his team. Darce and I shot them challenging glares.

"Three versus two. It seems unfair, don't you think Gray?" Darce's grin and tone turned mocking.

"Yea, I might have to tie both arms behind my back to even the odds." I calmly replied. We stared them down for a few moments longer before they broke and ran away.

When we got back to our seats, everyone was smiling. Pyrrha gave me a shoulder punch that was way too strong.

"Good job, you guys." She congratulated us.

"It was time someone took him down a peg." Blake commented.

"He's been a jerk to everyone since day one." Jaune agreed. Murphy and Aries gave us approving gestures, but they were mostly focused on their studies.

"No one reports it when he picks on fanus, it must be hard." Yang added.

"Only when we're around people like Cardin. Weiss can get like that, too, but she's really improved these last few weeks." Darce said. Weiss gave us a bitter look before going back to doing her nails.

"Bro, she legitimately thought we were spies from the White Fang for like two weeks, just because we were fanus that liked to hang around people that are forced to hang around her."

"We're not _forced_ to hang-" Ruby started.

"If there were no teams, would you still want to be friends with her?" I asked. There was a moment of uncomfortable silence, then the bell rang.

"WellTimeForHistory, Let'sGo!" Ruby quickly said and ran off.

"Saved by the bell." Ren commented.

_**Darce, History:**_

We were all watching Dr. Oobleck zip across his classroom with varying levels of success. From the scene in the lunchroom, and our instructor's lecture, I knew we'd reached the "Jaunedice" episode. Cardin was absent due to injury. Wait, OH SHIT! If Cardin isn't here, then he won't pick on Jaune and wake him up, meaning that he a Cardin won't be assigned the extra reading and Pyrrha won't try and help Jaune. If that doesn't happen, then Jaune won't reveal-

My thoughts were interrupted when Cardin walked through the door and took a seat behind Jaune, who was still sleeping.

"Ah, mister Winchester. I see that you've decided to join us! Excelent! We were just talking about the Faunus Rights Revolution, more popularly known as the Fanus war." He continued with his lecture, and I was happy to see the scene play out like it was supposed to. Cardin woke Jaune up, Oobleck took the opportunity to chose him for a question. He, of course, got it wrong, so Oobleck chose Cardin next.

"Well, I know it's a lot easier to train an animal than a soldier." He said with a sneer.

"So, you're saying that fanus are smarter than humans?" I asked mockingly.

"No-"

"That's what I heard." Gray agreed.

"That's not-"

"Wow, Cardin, I didn't know you held fauns in such high-esteem." Jaune joined in.

"Enough," Oobleck interrupted, "Darce, no doubt _you_ have the answer."

"Of course. The reason General Lagune's men lost was because he tried to ambush the fanus at night, apparently no one ever told him that most fanus have near perfect sight in the dark due to our night vision and enhanced senses."

"Correct!" Our teacher exclaimed.

"Perhaps if he'd paid attention in class, he wouldn't have been remembered as such a failure." Blake aimed a glance at an angry Cardin, who immediately clenched his fists and stood up.

"Mr. Winchester, please take your seat." Oobleck said firmly, then zoomed up to Jaune, who'd been laughing, "You and Mr. Arc can both see me after class for additional readings." Jaune replied with a groan.

"Now! Moving on!" Our instructor continued and zoomed back to his board. A grin formed on my lips.

Everything was in place.

**_Hope you liked that. Don't forget to follow, fav, and review. See you next week!_**


	10. Something wrong

Ch. 9: Something wrong

_**Darce:**_

The next few weeks went as planned. Jaune was blackmailed by Cardin for a while, then we took a field trip to Forever Falls and Cardin was attacked by an Ursa Major. Jaune saved him so Cardin stopped picking on him. During those weeks, we'd had gotten closer to teams RWBY and JNPR, and our own teammates, of course. Today, Gray and I decided to accompany team RWBY on a trip into the city. We were finally at 'The Stray' episode, and I was looking forward to meeting Sun. When we got to the docks, everything was as it was in the episode. Well, except for my brother and me.

"Remind me again why we're spending our friday afternoon visiting the stupid docks?" Yang asked.

"Ug, they smell like fish!" Ruby complained.

"Mmm, I know. Isn't it wonderful?" I said, inhaling deeply through my nose. I'd gotten used to my new-found love of fish, after all the months I've been part-cat.

"I've heard that students from Vacuo will be arriving by ship today. And, as a representative from Beacon, I feel as though it is my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom." Weiss said with way too much enthusiasm.

"She wants to spy on them so she'll have the upper hand in the tournament." Blake translated.

"You can't prove that!" Weiss defended.

"Wow." Ruby said, looking toward a dust shop with police tape all over it. We all walked over there out of curiosity. "What happened here?" She asked a detective holding a notepad.

"Robbery. Second dust shop to be hit this week. This place is turning into a jungle." He walked away to talk with his partner.

"That's terrible." Yang said sadly.

"They left all the money again." Commented one of the detectives, recapturing our attention.

"It just doesn't make a lick of sense!" Said the other. "Who needs that much dust?"

"I don't know. An army?"

"You thinkn' the White Fang?"

"Yea, I'm thinkn' we don't get paid enough!"

"Hmm, the White Fang. What an awful bunch of degenerates." Weiss said disgustedly.

"What's your problem?" Blake said testily.

"My problem? I simply don't care for the criminally insane!"

"The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths. They're a collection of misguided fanus."

"Misguided? They want to wipe humanity off the face of the planet!"

"Then they're _very_ misguided! Either way, it doesn't explain why they'd rob a dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale."

"Blake's got a point. Besides, the police never caught that Torchwick guy we ran into a few months ago, maybe it was him." Ruby offered.

"That still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum. Those fanus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal."

"And Schnees are so much better." Gray muttered.

"What?!" Weiss shouted.

I covered his mouth and answered for him.

"He said 'I agree, they're a real bother'." She narrowed her eyes, but let it drop. This was about the time Sun should be running off of one of the ships, with voices shouting for someone to stop him. But nothing came. No monkey fanus, no shouts.

"Hey, shouldn't the students be arriving right about now?" I asked.

"Yea, lets go." Yang said.

Gray saw my confused expression, and started to look worried. Something was wrong, we could feel it. Then it hit me, _we'd replaced them!_ In exchange for a place in the story, we had to take someone else's! I searched my knowledge of the show to see what consequences this would bring to find...very few.

Team SSSN was largely absent during most of both Vol. 1 and 2, and when they were there they were mostly comic relief. The only one to actually play a role was Sun, and since I knew what he'd do I could replace him. I just hoped I could pull it off. Weiss wouldn't have a date to the dance next semester, but I think she'll manage.

Wait, if I'm taking Sun's place, would Gray take Neptune's? I laughed to myself at the thought of Weiss asking him to the dance. Anyway, back to the matter at hand.

Firstly, Weiss and Blake had to get into a fight. In the show, Weiss kept insulting Sun which caused her and Blake to restart their argument that would last into the night. A plan quickly formed in my head.

_**Gray:**_

_This'll be fun._ I thought to myself. Darce had whispered his plan to me when no one was looking, and said it was important.

"Hey, guys! I think I saw a student sneak off that way!" I shouted, pointing an illusion Darce had made running away. I noticed he had a monkey's tail. He kind of looked like a street rat.

"Quick! We have to observe him!" Weiss cried, sprinting towards the fake student. We followed closely, unsure why she was so intent on this one student. We turned a corner and Weiss bumped into something. We all halted to help her up.

"He got away!" Weiss griped.

"Uhhh...Weiss." Yang pointed to the person Weiss bumped into. She looked to see a creepily smiling ginger girl. Weiss flinched and quickly got up.

"Salutations!" The girl greeted.

"Um, hello." Ruby said back.

"Are you...okay?" Yang asked concerned by the fact that she had yet to get up.

"I'm wonderful, thank you for asking!"

"...Do you want to...get up?" Yang asked cautiously. The ginger girl seemed to think for a moment.

"Yes." She said cheerily, then flipped onto her hands like a martial artist. We all quickly took a wide step back. "My name is Penny, it's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Hi Penny, I'm Ruby." Ruby greeted again. We all took turns introducing ourselves, except for Yang.

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head-" Blake hit her in the side. "Oh, I'm Yang!"

"It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"You already said that." Weiss noted. Penny again thought for a moment.

"So I did!" She said, still so cheery. It was really starting to get creepy.

"Well, sorry for running into you." Weiss apologized and we all started to leave.

"Take care, friend!" Ruby said as a way of goodbye, and we left.

"She was...weird…" Yang commented.

"Yea, I know." I agreed.

"Now where did that fanus go?"

"What did you call me?" Penny asked, suddenly in front of us. We all jumped back.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't think you heard me!" Yang apologized.

"No, not you…" She walked over to Ruby, "_You._"

"Me? I-um...I don't know…umm"

"You called me 'friend'! Am I really your friend?"

"Umm.." Ruby looked over to us, and we made all manner of 'No' motions, "Y-yea, sure! Why not!" She finally said. We fell over in exasperation. Penny laughed and raised her arms in victory

"Sensational! We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!"

"So," Yang tried to defuse the tension, "What are you doing in Vale?"

"I'm here to fight in the tournament!"

"Wait, _you're_ fighting in the tournament?" Weiss interjected.

"I'm combat ready!" Penny said with a salute.

"Forgive me, but you hardly look the part."

"Says the girl wearing a dress." Blake muttered.

"It's a combat skirt!" Weiss defended. Ruby zoomed next to her.

"Yea!" They highfived.

"Wait, if you're here for the tournament, does that mean that you know that monkey tailed rapskallion?"

"The who?" Penny asked, understandably confused. Weiss held up a poorly drawn picture depicting a scowling monkey fanus.

"The filthy looking fanus that passed by here!"

"Why do you keep saying that?" Blake asked angrily.

"Hmm?" Weiss looked over to her.

"Stop calling him a rapskallion, stop calling him a degenerate! He's a person! You haven't even met him!"

"People with nothing to hide don't go sneaking around! He's clearly done something!"

"Why, because he's a fanus? Maybe he didn't want people like _you_ spying on him!"

"He's probably an outlaw. Give him time, I'm sure he'll join up with those other fanus in the White Fang."

Weiss and Blake continued to fight, and Darce had to hold me back to stop me from cold cocking her in her spoiled little face.

"Uhh, I think we should probably go." Yang suggested.

"Good idea." Darce said, still straining to hold me still. If I truly wanted to, I could easily break free. I decided, however, to play it safe.

"Where are we going?" Penny asked, reminding us that she was still there.

_**Darce, later that night:**_

I was doing a lap around Beacon, stopping to take a break at the statue in the school's entrance. I'd been there for two minutes when Blake came charging out, running as if for dear life.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down. What's wrong?" I asked. She stopped in front of me.

"I just...I...I need to get away."

"I know a hotel that doesn't ask questions. How much lien do you have?"

"Wha-...um, none. I left it in my dorm."

"Alright, then. I'll take you there and get you a room. That okay?"

"Yea, that's fine."

"Well then, let's go."

We grabbed an airship into town and quickly made our way to a hotel I'd found just in case. As I promised, they didn't ask any questions and took the cash up front. I payed for two nights, the whole weekend.

"Why two?" She asked when we were safely in the room.

"That's all I could afford if you want food." I answered honestly.

"Oh."

"So, wanna tell me why you're avoiding your team?"

"I.. let it slip that I was in the White Fang. Weiss…"

"I understand. Do you need to stay longer?"

"No, two days should do."

_**Sunday:**_

The two days were up. Nothing interesting happened, and Blake was silent for most of it. We were walking down some random street, talking about the recent string of robberies.

"I still don't think the White Fang is behind it, they've never needed that much dust before."

"Well, the only way to prove that they didn't do it is to go to a place where they would be if they did do it and not find them there!" I said, stealing Sun's line.

"I have no idea where that would be."

"I heard about a huge shipment of dust coming in from Atlas."

"How huge?"

"Huge. Big Schnee Company freighter."

"You're sure?"

"Positive."

_**Gray, back at Beacon:**_

Darce texted me late friday night telling me he had some things to do and wouldn't be back until sunday night. Then he sent me an obviously coded message to explain.

"You know that guy we were suppose to meet? He's a real CHARACTER, he must've forgot all about it. He NEVER SHOWED UP. He's not exactly a ROLE model, that empty skull of his NEEDS FILLED. Anyway, I'm in town now. Nihil and Aut needed cleaning, so I'M WORKING ON IT."

I facepalmed at Darce's awful excuse for a code. If you only looked at the capitalized words, it said:

"CHARACTER NEVER SHOWED UP. ROLE NEEDS FILLED. I'M WORKING ON IT."

I had sent him a text back to tell him that I understood:

"Well, WORK is piling up here, so get back QUICKLY. I'M going to get BORED real fast AND HUNGRY."

Now, I was walking through the streets helping Ruby and Yang look for Blake. Turns out she was not only a fanus, but a former member of the White Fang. The second they told me, I knew that, wherever Darce was, it was within a five foot radius of her. I told them that he was in town when they asked where he was.

It was at this moment that I wondered what he was doing. Who cares if the story progresses the same as in the not-anime? So what if we don't know what'll happen next? That's life! Darce, from the moment we got here, had made it his mission to "Protect the story". But why? I filed these questions away for when we found them. Focusing back at the problem at hand, I returned to shouting.

"Blake!" "Blake!" "Blake, where are you?!" We all called out. Ruby turned on Weiss, who had yet to utter a peep.

"Weiss, you're not helping!"

"You know who might be able to help? The police." We all gave her looks that told her _exactly_ what we thought of that idea. "It was just a suggestion."

"Yea, a bad one." Ruby said angrily.

"Weiss, I think we should hear her side of the story before we jump to any conclusions."

"I think when you hear it you all will realize _I_ was right."

"Oh, would you just **shut up**!" I snapped, "She's been your teammate for months now! Has she ever once done anything to deserve this kind of suspicion?!"

"She defended a group of homicidally insane scum!"

"Because, as we now know, she was once a member!"

"And why are _you_ defending _her_?!"

"Because she's my friend!"

"Or you're working with her!"

"Oh my god, not **this** again! I am not, nor have I ever been, a member of _any_ fanus organization! That includes the White Fang!"

"Not yet-"

"THAT DOESN'T EVEN MAKE SENSE!"

Metallic whirring was heard from my arms as brass knuckles wrapped around my fists. I was fully prepared to knock her out right here, right now.

"Guys!" Yang got between us, and pushed us away from each other, "Chill!"

"Actually, the weather is quite warm!" Said a cheery voice from behind us. We all jumped and Ruby let out a small scream.

"Penny, where did you come from?!"

"Hey guys," Penny said, ignoring the question, "What are you up to?"

"We're looking for our friend Blake."Yang responded.

"Oooh, you mean the fanus girl!" we were silent for a moment.

"Wait, how did you know that?" Ruby asked suspiciously.

"Uh, the cat ears." She said as if it were obvious.

"What cat ears? She wears a...bow." We all realized how simple her disguise was, and another moment of silence passed.

"She does like tuna a lot." Ruby meekly commented.

At that moment, my scroll buzzed. I pulled it out to see a text from Darce.

"If you stick with Penny, I'll see you tonight. Later."

Great. Just...great.

_**Don't forget to follow, fav, and review. Seriously, the review box thingy is right below this.**_


	11. I die for a little bit

Ch. 10: I die for a little bit

_**Darce:**_

It was late. Blake was staking out the docking port the dust shipment was supposed to take place in, while I'd left for a bit to grab food. Upon my return, I saw Blake lying prone on the ground, staring boredly at the inactive port.

"I come bearing apples!" I said with a grin to lighten the mood. She looked back at me with a suspicious look.

"You didn't steal that, did you?"

"No, why? Should I have?" I asked, confused.

"No, I was just joking. Fanus stereotypes and all that."

"Oh, okay." I murmured.

We fell into a momentary silence, when suddenly a bullhead flew over us and hovered by a clear spot to drop goons off. Blake gasped when she saw the White Fang markings on their backs.

"Is that them?" I asked, already knowing.

"Yes...it's _them_." She looked sad.

"You knew, deep down, didn't you?" I said, sympatheticly.

"Yes."

"Hey, what's the hold up?!" Came a loud voice from inside the aircraft, "We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, so why don't you animals try and pick up the pace!?" A man emerged from the vehicle.

"And _that's_ Roman Torchwick. Ruby, Gray, and I met him a few months ago." I said to her.

"Yea, I remember Ruby telling me about that." Blake got up and drew her sword.

"Where are you going?"

"Going to get answers: the White Fang would never work with a human, _especially_ one like that!"

She hopped down and stealthily hid behind a crate.

_**Gray:**_

I'd been walking with Penny and Ruby all day, and still we couldn't find Blake _or_ Darce. If it weren't for Penny being so..._Penny_, it would've been fine. But **no** _of course_ I had to follow the crazy one!

It was getting dark, I think we were about to go home when suddenly we heard a really loud boom come from somewhere behind us. We turned and saw a large plume of smoke in the distance.

"Oh, no." Ruby and I said, already knowing the cause of the explosion.

We immediately rushed to help.

_What mess is he making me rush into this time?_ I asked myself. Of course, I would come in guns blazing no matter what it was. And I knew he'd do the same, probably more, if our positions were reversed. I just hoped it was that Torchwick guy: the quicker we took him out, the faster I could live in peace.

_**Darce:**_

I watched Blake dodge Roman's explosive rounds and decided _now_ would be a good time to help. Taking aim with Gemino, I shot his douchey hat off of his head.

"HEY, ASSHAT!" I cried out and jumped, he turned to look at me just as my feet connected with his face, "REMEMBER ME?!"

"Not _you_ again!" He growled and quickly got up, "Look what you did to my hat! That cost a lot, kid!"

"Like you bought it." I said accusingly.

"Regardless." He muttered as White Fang henchmen jumped out of aircrafts and surrounded me, "You're not the brightest bit of trash in the litter, are you, kid?"

"Bright?" I asked, dark clouds lazily drifting out of the sleeves and collar of my jacket, "No, I've never been called 'bright'."

The goons charged at me with guns and swords. I defeated the first few with basic hand-to-hand combat, augmented by my shadows and blue dust infused gloves. Then I drew out Nihil and quickly cut them down. Roman dodged a thug as he flew passed him, screaming, and shot at me with his cane. I grabbed a goon from off the ground and threw him at the explosive. When it worked, Blake jumped in front of me.

"He's mine!" Blake shouted to me and rushed at Roman.

They traded blows, and I was reminded of how it went down in the show. I waited for Blake to be knocked away, and I rushed in with a plan. I used my illusions to make it look like there were three copies of me, each equipped with two swords. Despite having to dodge or block them all, he managed still be winning. When she found an opening, Blake charged in with a sneak attack and hit him back several meters. When he got up, he fired at a large shipping crate above us. _Shit, I forgot about that!_ I tried to jump out of the way, but I tripped and fell. I shut my eyes and waited, but nothing happened.

"Hey...bro...You should really...pick your battles better!" Said a strained voice above me.

I opened my eyes to see Gray holding the crate up with a lot of effort. He shot me a wide grin and threw the crate at Roman.

_**Gray:**_

I'd arrived just in time. I was able to get there faster due to the jets on my weapons, and it saved my brother's life.

"Not _you __**too**_!" Torchwick said, obviously frustrated at our arrival. He pointed his cane at us, "Now the only one left is-"

"Hey!" Ruby said from a nearby roof, and twirled her scythe menacingly.

"And there she is." He said, exasperated. Penny walked up to Ruby and started to say something. While Ruby was distracted, Torchwick took aim and fired at her. I tried to help, but yet _again_, Darce held me back.

"Just watch." He said with a grin.

I heard an overly evil laugh come from Torchwick, and I turned back to see a _very_ angry Penny. Something came out of her back, unfolded, and turned into like _**50 swords**_ _just hovering behind her!_

"Holy shit!" I yelled and took cover.

The next few minutes, for me, was an absolute trip. I saw her thrash everything they threw at her, using a _giant lazer_ when not using her floating swords. She annihilated four or five 'bullheads' in as many seconds and an uncountable amount of White Fang members. When she was done, a lone bullhead flew away, presumably carrying Roman Torchwick. Suddenly, it turned around a fired a single shot.

"THAT'S FOR MY HAT, YOU LITTLE SHIT!" Came a loud voice.

I was confused until I turned back to Darce to ask him what he meant. Then I saw it. Darce was looking at a bloody hole in the middle of his chest. He had a confused look on his face as if he couldn't quite comprehend what had happened. Then he collapsed.

"DARCE!" I quickly picked him up, "WE NEED HE-"

"Hey, hey, no need to scream." Said a voice behind me. I turned to see a man cloaked in shadow, yet he seemed to glow at the same time. He had a deep, gravelly voice that seemed to come from everywhere.

"W-who are you?" I said, the shock still clenching my throat.

"What, little old me? Not important. What's important is the fact that he's been here all of three months, and he already went and got himself killed. That isn't any fun."

"What-" I was interrupted when he lifted a hand and a black energy shot out of him and into Darce.

"A lil' somethin' from me to him. Oh, but that wouldn't be too fair, would it?" The man said, and a beam went to me, only white. Suddenly I felt like I could take on armies, I felt amazing! Darce coughed and stirred. Something came out of his chest, a bullet. I picked it up and stuffed it into my pocket. I turn back to the man, but he was gone.

"Did we win?" Darce asked weakly. I quickly put him down.

"Yea, bro. Torchwick got away, though."

"That's fine. Why are you crying?" I quickly wiped my face.

"I got a lot of dirt in my eyes."

"Oh. Well, let's go talk to the others." He seemed too tired to question me further.

We walked over to Ruby, Blake, and Penny. All the while my thoughts were going at a million miles per second. Who was that? Why did he help us? _How_ did he help us? I decided to tell Darce about it later. When we got to the others, I saw Ruby talk into her scroll.

"She's calling the police." Blake said, Then she saw the blood, "Darce, are you okay?!" She immediately rushed over to him.

"I'm fine, just a scratch." Darce said, and showed her that there was no wound, not even a scar.

"He was shot with this." I said, holding up the bullet. Blake took and examined it.

"It's an aura-piercing round! That can't be right."

"Why not?"

"Because it would take-" She seemed to realize something and her eyes widened, "A lot of dust!"

"Don't bullets already use dust?"

"This is different, look." She ushered us closer and pointed at the engravings surrounding it, "They're tricky to make, and require a lot of dust. It's usually not worth the trouble or resources, but they can pierce right through aura and prevent aura from healing the wound. They're _very_ illegal. So how did _you_ survive a shot to the chest?"

"I don't know. I remember getting shot, falling unconscious, then waking up right as rain. If a bit sore, especially my spine for some reason."

"Well I'm glad friend Darce is alright!" Penny said happily. I was now creeped out _and_ terrified of her, so I kept my distance.

_**Darce:**_

Yang and Weiss arrived a few minutes after the police. We were sitting on boxes, waiting patiently.

"About time you guys showed up." Gray muttered. Well, mostly patient. Ruby quickly got up.

"Look, Weiss, it's not what you think she explained the whole thing you see she doesn't actually wear a bow she has kitty ears and they're actually kinda cute-" Weiss resolutely ignored her and kept walking. She walk up to Blake and held her gaze.

"Weiss," Blake started, "I want you to know that I'm no longer associated with the White Fang. Back when I was with them-"

"Stop." Weiss interrupted, "Do you have any idea how long we've been searching for you?" Silence.

"Twelve hours. That means that I've had twelve hours to think about this. And, in that twelve hours, I've decided: I don't care."

"You don't care?"

"You said that you're not one of them anymore, right?"

"No, I haven't been since I-" Weiss held up a hand to silence her.

"I don't want to hear it. I just want to know that the next time something _this_ big comes up, you'll come to your teammates. And not…" She shot me a glare, and I gave her a shit-eating smirk in return, "Someone else."

"Of course." Blake said.

"Aww, you wound me." I said with mock offence. Ruby, however, was smiling like a mad girl.

"Yea! Team RWBY is back together" We all huddled in, as if to hug. Weiss glared at me again.

"I still don't entirely trust you!" She said, pointing at me.

"That's fine, princess. Just know that if you hurt one of my friends like that again, _**I will make y**__**ou beg for death**_." I dropped my smile and used my semblance to turn my eyes solid black and add a demonic duel tone to my voice. Then I returned back to normal and smiled again, "K?"

Everyone except Gray had taken a large step back, completely freaked out by the rapid (if faked) mood changes. Weiss nodded slowly, and Gray chuckled.

"Oh, come on, guys! Take a joke!" I laughed. Everyone seemed to relax a bit and laughed with me.

"Hey, where's Penny?" Ruby asked. We looked around, but she was gone.


	12. Crimson Horror trailer

_**HHEEELLLLLOOOO FANATICS! Not counting the trailers, I've uploaded about ten chapters! Woo-hoo! So far, so good, you guys have been great. Now, before we get into the second volume, I've got another trailer for some more OCs!**_

Crimson Horror Trailer

A man with horse ears and a White Fang uniform was running through an alley. He was out of breath and looked terrified. Two figures were chasing him, both girls in their mid-teens, both with murder in their eyes. The shorter one had a wide, crazy grin. The taller one's features were more cold and professional. The shorter one had long hair so blonde it was nearly white, dark gray eyes, and a large Bowie knife in her hands. The taller one had black hair, brown eyes, but no visible weapon. They were gaining on him quick, so he desperately tried to take to the streets. He never made it. A whistling noise pierced the air and he was pinned to the wall next to him by his shoulder. He cried out in pain as the knife was yanked out of him by the blonde girl.

"Silly horsie, trying to get away~." She cooed. The brunet raised an eyebrow.

"Carful with this one, Mab. We can't have him die too quickly. We need to know who he was informing."

"I know, I know, Lily. But let me have just _a little_ fun!"

"What more fun? You've already infected him with that 'not-virus' you've got in that blade of your's"

Hearing this, the former White Fang member started to panic and struggle.

"Oh, hold still. I have a cure right here." Mab pulled out a vial of purple liquid. "You just need to tell us who you ratted us out to, and what you told them. That simple."

The faunus hesitated for only a moment.

"I-I-I told the police where our next meeting was! Please, they threatened to throw me in prison! I had no choice." He noticed blood starting to seep out of his every pour. " That's all I told them! Please, the antidote!"

Lily looked over to Mab.

"Is he telling the truth?" She asked. Mab's eyes turned white and glowed brilliantly over his face, then returned back to normal.

"He is." She turned and began to walk away, followed quickly by Lily.

"Wait! You said you'd give me the cure!" He cried desperately. He was feeling sharp pains all over his body. Mab turned to look at him.

"There is no cure, silly." Her grin widened. "You have a half hour to live. Didn't anyone ever tell you? _And Darkness, and decay, and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all._" Lily shook her head at the shorter girl.

"I doubt they have Edgar Allen Poe in this world, Mab." She deadpanned as the informant started to seize. Mab sighed.

"They don't. I checked."

And they left the poor man to die a slow, painful, and bloody death without a second thought.

_**Hope you liked that! Don't forget to follow, fav, and review! Please, please review.**_

_**...Please...**_

_**...Just one...**_

_**Anyway, see you next week!**_


	13. I feel weird

Ch. 11: I feel weird

_**Darce:**_

The next day, Gray told me about the man who healed me. Obviously, this was someone who knew about us being from earth. That made him either the one who sent us here, or who knew the one who did. In any case, we needed to find him. Unfortunately, if he has the ability to send others here, it stood to reason that he could be in or from either world. It also stood to reason that he could be in an entirely different place. He could be in fucking Narnia for all we knew.

"You okay?" Gray asked, pulling me out of my thoughts. We were sitting at a lunch table, today was the last day before semester break.

"Hmm? Oh, yea. Why?"

"You look…" Ruby searched for the right word, "Thoughtful, that's all."

"Yea, I tend to do that." I said sheepishly.

"Not like this. It looked like you were contemplating some deep philosophical question." Pyrrha commented.

"Or the end of the world." Gray added.

"If it's those rumors about you guys, I'm sure none of them actually mean it." Yang said, trying to reassure us. Wait...rumors?

"What rumors?" Gray asked, mirroring my thoughts.

"Oh, nothing to worry about. Forget I said anything!" Yang attempted to dodge the question.

Gray and I stared her down, but she wouldn't budge. Knowing that she wasn't going to, we trained our sights on the weakest link: Ruby. She stood her ground for maybe three seconds before she cracked.

"They're calling you the Grimm Brothers!" She burst out.

"What?" We asked.

"You really haven't heard?" Jaune asked, baffled by our ignorance.

"No, why would they call us that? Because we're faunus?"

"That's part of it. They're saying that Darce has the darkness of a grimm, and that you have the anger of one." Blake said.

"But it's all just rumor, right?" Nora said. Gray and I were silent for a moment.

"They've figured us out." I stage whispered to Gray.

"Damn. What do we do?" He played along.

"We're going to have to kill them and hide the bodies."

"We're in the middle of a cafeteria, everyone will see us kill them!"

"We'll just have to kill the entire student body then."

"That'll take all day!"

"Maybe we could make it look like a fire. I think I've got some red dust lying around."

"Alright, guys, very funny." Blake interrupted our mock plotting.

"Fine, you're no fun."

"Whatever. Hey, how's your back?"

"Still sore. It's getting worse." I scrunched up my face as I rubbed my spine. It'd been hurting ever since I was shot.

"You should get it looked at, you might have nerve damage." Ruby said worriedly.

"Already did. Docs say it's some kind of internal swelling around my lower back, but my whole spine hurts."

"Weird, did it get injured in the fight?" Yang asked.

"No, they were just as confused. But they said I should be fine." I said, starting to get uncomfortable from all the attention.

"Yea. Anyway, why do you think the White Fang was working with a human?" Gray picked up on my discomfort and changed the subject.

"I don't know, it's been bothering me too." Blake said, her expression becoming agitated.

"Maybe they're plotting to use the dust for some big bomb?" I suggested, already knowing.

"Maybe." Ruby said, and we all fell into a thoughtful silence. After a while, the bell rang and we went to our classes.

_**Gray:**_

I'd been on edge since the attack. This unease was made worse by boost the glowing guy gave me. I felt so alert and strong ever since that light was beamed into me that I'd become restless. There was so much energy bottled up in me that I felt like I was going to burst if I didn't use it. This meant that I was constantly sparing with Yang or just pulling trees out of the ground (which is a lot easier than it sounds). And what really topped my worry list was Darce.

I'd started noticing differences the moment we got back to our dorm. Now, days later, they were much more prominent. First, was his hair. It used to be a light brown, but it was turning into a deep black, and it was growing faster than usual. He'd only ever had to shave his chin before, and only once every so often, but now he had to shave his whole face on a daily basis. Second was his skin, It'd been getting paler and paler, and lastly was the swelling in his back. The doctors had said that it might be serious, or not. They had no idea what was causing it or what it meant. It was all scaring me, and that only added to my restlessness.

Today was the last day before the semester break. I was in my bed trying to go to sleep when Darce started to scream. I quickly got out of my bed and rushed over to him. His face was contorted in pain and he was clutching at his back. Aries pushed me out of the way and flipped Darce over to look at his back. When he pulled Darce's shirt out of the way, we saw something protruding out of the small of his back. For a moment, I thought that a black furry snake had been growing inside of my brother. Then I saw that it was a tail. When it was done growing, Darce became limp and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Darce! Are you okay?!"

"I'm great!" He said happily, "The pain's gone!"

"No shit! You've got a tail!"

"I've got a what?!" He twisted over to see it.

He flicked it side to side, observing how it moved. Then grabbed it and ran his thumb across it.

"Holy shit." He said simply. There was a knock at our door.

"Everything alright? We heard screaming." Jaune's asked through the door. Murphy opened it.

"We're fine. Darce just grew a tail."

"What? Is that normal?"

"Not at all!" Murphy said with a cheery tone that reminded me of Penny.

"Should we take him to the infirmary?" Pyrrha asked anxiously.

"Pronto." I said and picked Darce up, "To the medical ward!"

"Gray, I'm fine! We can go tomorrow! I'm sure they're not opened at this time of night!"

"Nonsense, they're opened 24/7!"

"How do you know?"

"I was there overnight, remember?"

"Oh, right"

_**Darce:**_

Doctors told me it was possible that this was some kind of birth defect. Other than that, they didn't have any idea what it could be. Not very reassuring, but they didn't know that I wasn't always a faunus. When I got back to my dorm, I started thinking: What if it was a side effect of the glowing guy's healing? If so, why didn't Gray have one too? Was it because I'd been close to death, and therefore needed more of his energy? Too many questions, I needed answers. But how? There was no way to find the glowing guy, so who else would have the knowledge I needed? More questions, damn it!

The next day there was no school, so I stayed in. There was a knock at the door.

"Is anyone in here?" Came Prof. Port's voice. I opened the door to see him in casual wear.

"Hello? What is it?"

"Students aren't allowed to stay in school during break. You'll need to leave."

"But I don't have anywhere to go! Neither does my brother!"

"I'm sorry, but rules are rules. You could stay in a hotel in the city." He said, looking genuinely sorry.

I sighed and started to pack. Carrying a backpack with me, I went to the cafeteria for breakfast. To my surprise, I found teams RWBY and JNPR there too.

"Wow! You actually grew a tail!" Ruby shouted

"Yeap." I curled it around my torso for them to see, "So, what are you guys still doing here?" I asked, sitting next to them.

"We all decided to have a last meal before we go our separate ways!" Nora said happily.

"You say it like we'll never see eachother again." Yang laughed.

"So, what are you all doing for break?" I asked.

"Yang and I are going back home to visit our dad." Ruby said cheerily.

"I'm going back to my family's manor in Atlas." Weiss said with a hint of snobbyness.

"Going to my family's farm." Jaune said.

"I'm going home as well." Pyrrha said with a small smile.

"Us too!" Nora said, wrapping an arm around Ren.

"I don't really have plans. Gray and I have nowhere to go." I said sadly.

"Me neither." Blake said, taking her nose out of a book. An idea came into my mind.

"Would it be alright if Gray and I hang out with you? With all of our lien combined, we could rent a room at a more...clean hotel than last time." Blake shrugged.

"I was just planning to find somewhere quiet to read for a week. This sounds much better."

"Speaking of which, Ruby let me borrow a book from your room. Is that okay?" I held up a book that I'd cast an illusion over the cover to make it look like 'Ninjas of love'. Blake's eyes widened and she quickly snatched it out of my hands.

"W-w-where did you find this?!" She demanded. While she wasn't looking, I canceled the illusion.

"Off of your bookshelf, why? Is it bad?" I pretended innocence. She opened her mouth, then saw that the cover had changed back to its original cover, some book called 'Hope: a Journey Into The Teenage Life of a Faunus'.

"What? Oh, um, sorry." She sheepishly handed the book back, "It's fine."

"Great! So, where's Gray?" I asked. The others gave me confused looks.

"We thought he was with you." Yang said curiously.

"I woke up to an empty room."

"Really? Where's your other teammates?"

"Left early. Said something about visiting some village." I said dismissively.

"Oh. Well than what about Gray?"

"I was asking you guys!" As if on cue, an explosion was heard from just outside.

"I think he's that way." Weiss said deadpan, everyone gave noises of agreement.

"I'll go check it out." I muttered. I got up, but found that unnecessary as Gray flew through a window. He seemed to be having some trouble with his jets.

"HELP ME!" He screamed. I quickly pulled out Gemino and took aim. He was spinning and zig-zagging like mad, but my aim was true.

*_Pi-Pit_*

One shot hit each vambrace, disabling his rampaging jets. He fell with a very audible thud right next to our table.

"...Thanks."

"No problem. You alright?"

"Yea, I'm fine. You gonna eat those eggs?" Of course his first concern was food.

"Bitch, get your own damn eggs!"

He stuck his tongue out at me and walked off to get his own breakfast.

"Well, we found him. He was probably in the workshop, tinkering with Scorpion." Ruby said, brushing the whole ordeal off.

I sighed and returned to eating. When Gray gt back we asked him why his jets malfunctioned.

"Well, after seeing the advantages of some more firepower, I installed a mini rocket launcher into Scorpion. I must've crossed some wires, 'cause the moment I tried firing I took off like a rocket myself!"

"You got a rocket launcher?" Ruby asked excitedly. In response, Gray nonchalantly activated his vambraces. Four rockets the size of his pinkey popped out and mounted on the back of each hand.

"Cool." Yang commented.

Very cool. I just hoped he wouldn't blow himself up by the end of today. Luckily he finished fixing it before we left, So we had a relatively calm break.

**_And there we have it! Please, Please, PLEASE follow, fav, and REVIEW! see 'ya later fanatics!_**


	14. I get in a food fight

_**Hello, you beautiful people! I decided to upload a chapter early for kicks. Before we begin, I've got three things to say.**_

_**In order of importance**_

_**First: THANK YOU! To everyone who Reviewed, Followed, Favorited, or even read this far. You are the reason I keep posting, and will continue to do so until you stop. Again, THANK YOU!**_

_**Second: I've decided the story is going too slow, so I'm going to start going away from the security of canon facts and knowns. This means that the story will be a little more out there and weirder. Also, It's gonna get slowly darker as we progress. I'm kinda nervous at this new development, so feedback is VERY appreciated.**_

_**Third: Some of you may have noticed Aries and Murphy have faded into the background, they will stay there until I figure out what to do with them.  
**_

**_With that said, enjoy._**

Ch. 12: I get in a food fight

_**Gray:**_

School was back in full swing, and Darce and I were on our way to get some breakfast. I was looking at a textbook with a sad and angry expression on my face.

"This is so unfair! What part of hunting and killing monsters requires math!?" I whined loudly.

"Everything needs math. Just be glad they only make you go up to geometry."

"Really? Oh, thank god!" I breathed a sigh of relief. Just then, we heard something slam into the window next to us. We looked to see Jaune slowly sliding down said window, and I saw a wide smile spread across Darce's face.

"OH! I totally forgot about this part! Come on!" He quickly rushed into the cafeteria. I entered to see most of the tables stacked on one side of the room with Nora (of course) laughing and singing on top. Team RWBY was on the opposite side of the cafeteria, with Ruby pointing accusingly at team JNPR.

"Justice will be swift," Ruby's voice quivered with anger, "Justice will be painful...It will be...**delicious**!" Her team screamed their agreement. Darce and I shared a look.

"Wanna join in?"

"Absolutely! Which side?"

"I'll help team RWBY, you join the others in team JNPR. Deal?"

"Deal!" We fist bumped and ran to our sides.

My side was launching watermelons at Ruby and her teammates. Ren saw me approach and probably would've attacked if I didn't raise my arms to tell him I was on his side. He nodded and continued with his melon-y assault. I spotted Yang donning a pair of turkeys like her gauntlets and punch the offending melons. Blake jumped over her and helped with two baguettes that were apparently made of sterner stuff than bread should be made of, because they were able to _break watermelons_!

Jaune was down for the count almost immediately, having been hit with Yang's turkeys. Pyrrha and Blake got into an epic duel, and I was still looking for a weapon. Finally I just picked up two drumsticks and hook my fingers through the meat so the bones covered my knuckles. I saw Yang start to charge at us, and Ren made moves as if to fight her. I got there first and Yang and I had another rematch.

My drumsticks were faster than her turkeys, but I couldn't use my semblance on food and she took me out with an uppercut followed by a blow that slammed me into the ground. I looked up to see Nora hit her with a watermelon that she flew through the ceiling. _Serves her right_, I thought to myself. I was quickly pulled out of my thoughts when Pyrrha used her own semblance to send a barrage of soda cans at Blake. Only a few hit her before Darce pushed her out of the way and was sent flying by the attack.

There was a moment of eerie silence as Ruby took a runner's stance. Suddenly, she zoomed across the room, forming a slipstream of destruction behind her. We were all quickly caught in it, being pressed against a wall by the momentum. I tried to dodge it with my jets, this is until I remembered that I wasn't wearing Scorpion. At first, I thought we'd just stay there on the wall a bit then fall right off. But I was wrong, as all the food that had gotten caught in Ruby's little tornado came rushing at us at breakneck speeds. It was the longest five seconds of my life as I was bombarded by all the food I so adored. When it was over we all limply fell to the floor, groaning in pain. I should've known Darce would pick the winning side.

Suddenly the door burst wide open to reveal a scowling professor Goodwitch. With a swish of her wand (_whip_), everything started flying and fixing themselves. In moments the room was as it was before the food fight. When all had settled she fixed a glare at us.

"_Children, __**please**__,_" Her voice was strained with repressed anger, and she adjusted her glasses, "_Do not __**play **__with your food_."

The tension was defused when Nora let out a loud belch and Yang came crashing down from the ceiling, letting out a small scream as she fell. It was too much, and we all started laughing like crazy. Ozpin walked up to Goodwitch and seemed to calm her down. She shooed us away to go clean ourselves, so we left. Ozpin pulled Darce aside to speak with him, Darce nodded at something he said, and left with the rest of us.

_**Darce:**_

Ozpin told me that a friend of his would be visiting tomorrow, and wanted to see Gray and I. He'd apparently told this "friend" (totally not Ironwood) about our secret, and he was eager to ask us about our world. I wasn't so eager, but agreed anyway. The next morning, I woke up and saw a small fleet outside my window.

"Well, I guess Ironwood's here." I said to Gray.

"Ironwood?"

"He's a general from Atlas."

"Oh. Is he bad?"

"I don't think so, but I'm not sure. He certainly thinks like a soldier, though."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"At times." Further questions were cut off by a knock on the door.

"Mr. Forge?" Came Prof. Goodwitch's voice. I opened the door.

"Yes? Is it time?"

"Indeed. Come with me." We followed her to Ozpin's office and she knocked to announce our arrival. I noticed Gray scratching his hands, and I was suddenly struck by a light headache.

"Come in." We entered to see Ozpin at his desk, speaking with a man in a formal white military outfit you'd expect a general to wear. Gray's scratching got worse and so did my headache

"I take it you're the..._travelers_ Oz has told me about." He came closer and my head started to pound furiously.

Gray's hands were bleeding with how much he was scratching. We both figured it out and backed away, our _semblances_ were going crazy. Ozpin noticed our reactions, but Ironwood thought we were just shy.

"No need to worry, I won't hurt you-"

"James I think you _are_ hurting them." Ozpin said and rushed over to us, pushing Ironwood away.

I was clutching my head and kneeling on the floor, so I could barely hear them. Goodwitch was forcing Gray's hands away from each other to prevent scarring. The general quickly caught on and backed away further. When it finally stopped we sighed breaths of relief. Ironwood was pressed up against the opposite wall.

"Well, I think we're off to a bad start. What caused this?" Ironwood said, confused.

"Our semblances...I think they don't like you." I said weakly, an even weaker smile on my face to show I was joking.

"Indeed. Well, I'm sure I can ask my questions tomorrow. I think it would be best if you just leave for now." We nodded and did so.

"That was...different." Gray muttered, rubbing his hands while his aura healed them.

"Yea, you can say that." I agreed. I wanted to think about it more, but it seemed to start slipping away. Something was wrong, but what? When Gray next spoke, the matter left my head entirely.

"What now?" He asked. I thought for a moment before replying

"To the library."

"Why?"

"Everyone else is there." We ran as fast as we could to avoid the general.

"Hey guys." Gray said when we arrived, finding them playing some board game that reminded me of risk.

"Hel~lo." Yang said in a sing-song voice. Obviously she was winning. Ruby and Weiss looked deflated, but Blake looked distracted and tired.

"Hi Ruby, Yang, Blake,..._Ice Queen_." I said, saying the last name with no shortage of mockery.

"Why does everyone keep calling me that?!" Weiss demanded.

"Gee, I wonder." Gray said sarcastically.

"Blake, I never took you as the board game playing type." I said, then widened my eyes, _Why did I say that?!_.

"Right. Well, I think I'm done playing, actually." She put her cards down and left. We stayed silent for a few moments before Nora (as usual) broke the tension.

"Women." She said, shrugging her shoulders as if to say, 'What cha' gonna do?'

I quickly ran after her and grabbed her arm.

"Blake, I-" I was cut off as my mind was flooded with images. They were mostly of Blake as a kid at protest rallies. I quickly jerked my hand away.

"What was that?" Blake said, as confused as I was.

"You saw that too?" I asked.

"I saw a younger you in a house with Gray….What did you see?" She was understandably shaken.

"I saw you as a kid, mostly at protests. Nothing I didn't already know." I assured her.

"But...you and Gray...you didn't have your ears. What's an 'America'?" I was confused for a moment, then I realized she saw me when I was human. _Shit_. I was silent for a few moments.

"America is the place I'm from. It's really far away, so you've probably never heard about it. I don't know what the whole 'earless' thing is about, though." The first part was true enough, but the second half was a complete lie. I'd always had a weakness about total lies: if there wasn't at least a grain of truth in it, guilt would be written all over my face. Unless, of course, I was lying to someone I perceived as an enemy, or telling a story. Blake easily saw through me and narrowed her amber eyes.

"Are you human?!" She accused.

"What? No! Gray and I both are faunus, I swear!" She could see I was telling the truth. She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"I'm just...going to go back to my dorm. I just need to be alone for a while." She turned and left before I could say anything.

**_While it hasn't really gotten dark yet, it will. Future chapters will include kidnapping, torture (physical and psychological, not sexual), insanity, and murder/gore. So...yeah. Later!_**


	15. I spy

_**Hey, so you guys apparently like the idea of things getting dark. I'll be sure to work on that! Also, I seem to get twice as many views when I update in the middle of the week, so this will be the last time I post a chapter on Saturday! My new update day will be Wednesday. Now, without further ado, enjoy!**_

Ch. 13: I spy

_**Gray:**_

There was a lot of shouting heard from team RWBY's dorm room later that day.

"What's all that?" I asked Darce.

"They're deciding whether or not to the youngest huntresses to single handedly bring down a corrupt organization conspiring against the kingdom of Vale."

"Right." I said sarcastically, I should've known he wouldn't give me a straight answer. I walked over to see what the real reason was. I heard Ruby's voice through the door.

"All in favor of becoming the youngest huntresses to single handedly bring down a corrupt organization conspiring against the kingdom of Vale...Say 'I'."

Well shit.

They all said their agreements and I knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" Came Yang's voice.

"Gray. the whole hallway can hear you."

"You _were_ going to invite us on your little escapade, _right_?" Darce said, lacing his speech with mock hurt. Ruby opened the door.

"Sorry, guys, but we don't want friends involved. We're doing this as a team."

"That's a load bull. Darce and I have as much to do with fighting Torchwick as you do." I said, actual hurt evident in my voice. Ruby thought for a bit, then sighed.

"Fine. Let's hatch a plan! Oh, I left my board game in the library!"

"Don't worry, I'll get it." Darce said and dashed off, immediately crashing into a group of exchange students.

_**Darce:**_

Despite knowing that they'd be there, I really did crash into them on accident. I guess my conversation with Ruby allowed them closer than I thought they'd be. Now that I was stuck with Ruby's role in this, I decided to play the part.

"Oh, sorry. You okay?" I said with a forced smile on my face. A black girl with shoulder length green hair and red eyes helped me up.

"We're fine, just watch where you're going." Emerald said, the fakeness of her kindness almost painfully obvious to me. Mercury was standing next to her, a cocky smile plastered on his face.

"Right, sorry. I'm Darce, are you new?" A woman with black hair and yellow eyes stepped out from behind Emerald.

"Visiting from Haven, actually." Cinder Fall sauntered towards me, seeming to take a pause that I don't remember seeing in the show. I felt like I was surrounded by jungle cats coiled up to pounce.

"You're here for the festival, right? Don't exchange students have their own dormitories?"

"I guess we just got turned around." Mercury said with a sincerity so false it was mocking.

"Happens all the time, your building is just east of here." Emerald and Mercury started to move, but Cinder remained still.

"What was your name, again?" Her eyes glowed slightly as she spoke. This was not part of the episode, what do I do? I hid my surprise behind a smile as faked as Emerald's.

"Who's asking?"

"My name's Cinder." By her tone, she seemed genuinely amused by my dodging of her question.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Darce."

"Well, maybe I'll see you around, Darce." She walked slowly away.

"Maybe. Welcome to Beacon." I quickly ran to the library.

She'd taken an interest in me, why? In the original episode, she must've known that Ruby was the one bothering Roman, yet she didn't seem to care too much. I was added into the mix, and _now_ it's interesting? Why? These were my thoughts as I grabbed Ruby's board game and sprinted back to their dorm. By the time I got back, I _still_ didn't have an answer.

"Who was _that_?" Gray asked.

"Cinder Fall, criminal master mind. She was the one in the aircraft launching fireballs at us when we first got here. The two with her, Emerald and Mercury have committed at least one murder. But, judging by their playfulness while doing so, I'd guess they've killed dozens if not more."

"Oh." He said, shocked, "And why are we not telling anyone?"

"With what evidence? We would only tip our hand. For now, we wait." I asked. Gray just shook his head.

"Anyway, while you were gone we came up with a plan-"

"Ruby and Weiss will go get sensitive documents from the Schnee Dust Corporation, you and Yang will go talk to a friend she has on the shady side of town who typically knows everything, and Blake and I will go to a White Fang faction meeting to find out what their planning."

"I keep forgetting that you've seen this before."

_**Gray, the next night:**_

We pulled up to what looked like a nightclub on Yang's motorcycle. Loud music was playing inside, and I could see disco lights through the windows. Yang pulled her helmet off and shook out her hair.

"Come on, my friend's in here." Yang said cheerily.

"And where is 'here'?" I asked. Yang ignored me and kept walking. The guards at the door seemed to recognize her and quickly ran inside to lock the doors. Yang easily plowed through them and sauntered right in.

"Guess who's back?!" She cheered. About a dozen men trained their guns on her immediately.

"I think they know exactly who's back, and they don't like it." I commented. We both took fighting stances. The music cut off and there was a tense silence.

"Stop, stop!" Shouted a gruff voice from behind the crowd, "Nobody shoot." They all put their guns down and a man dressed like a bartender stepped out.

"Blondie, you here. Why?" His voice held enough worry that I knew they'd fought before, and he lost.

"You," Yang pointed at him, "Still owe me a drink." She grabbed his arm and pulled him to the bar. The men gave them a wide birth, not wanting to make either of them angry. I looked around and saw a pair of twins staring at me.

"Hey there." I said with my best smile. They turned their noses away from me.

"Whatever." They said in almost perfect stereo and walked away.

_**Darce:**_

I knew we'd reached our destination when Blake found three parallel scratch marks in an alley. She traced her fingers over them and her face displayed a small sadness, probably memories she didn't want to remember. On the way, she'd been more quiet than usual. She was probably still thinking about how I might not even be a faunus.

"This is it." She finally said.

"Alright, let's go." I replied hastily.

"Wear this." She handed me a grimm mask.

"Great, people are already calling me a grimm. Why do they wear these, anyway?" I muttered.

"They're a symbol. Humanity wanted to make monsters of us, so we chose to don the faces of monsters." Her tone told me she'd memorized this out of some manifesto, and had said those exact words to a lot of people over and over.

We put on the masks and walked in. The room was full of malcontent faunus of every description, I could feel the anger and fear radiating off of them like heat. A man stood on a stage on the far side of the room, his mask covering his whole face.

"Thank you all for coming." The man started, "for those of you who are joining us for the first time tonight, allow me to introduce a very special comrade of ours! I can assure you, he is the key to obtaining what we have fought for for so long!" He gestured over to a man stepping out of a large curtain in the center of the stage. Roman Torchwick. Cries of surprise and anger came from those around us.

"Thank you, thank you! Please, hold your applause!" He smiled, liking the attention. To the side, I saw a girl with pink and brown hair walk out onto the stage.

"What's a human doing here?!" Shouted a deer faunus from the crowd.

"I'm glad you asked, deer-y!" He joked, "Now, I'll be the first to admit, humans are the worst." He gestured to himself, "Case in point. So I understand why you would like to see us all locked away or, better yet, killed!"

He continued with his speech, but I became distracted by the arrival of two more girls onto the stage. One was slightly shorter with mostly a white and red color scheme: nearly white-blonde hair that came down past her shoulders, dark gray eyes, a white blouse with red highlights, a black skirt that came down to her mid thigh with tight jeans under it, and a large bowie knife sheathed at her hip. She had a smug look similar to Neo's and a psychotic gleam in her eyes.

The other one was much stricter looking, and seemed to have a preference to the darker colors: A black leather jacket, pants, gloves, and boots. Her black hair was pulled into a tight bun, and her arms were covered with vambraces like Gray's. Blake nudged my side.

"Are you okay?"

"Hmm? Fine. W-" At that moment, Roman snapped his fingers and the curtain in the center fell.

I'd mentally prepared to fight the mech it revealed, but seeing it in all it enormity made me choke up a bit. "Th-that's a big robot…"

"How did he get that?"

"I don't know, maybe we should leave…" I said cautiously.

"And miss the rest of their plan? Not a chance." Blake replied firmly.

"Now," Roman continued, "Many of your brothers have already moved down to our new operation in the southeast-"

"There, they've got some lair in the southeast. I've got a bad feeling bristling in my tail, Blake. I read somewhere that cat faunus with tails do that when danger is coming. Trust the tail!" She raised an eyebrow at my sudden superstitiousness, but seemed to agree.

_**Gray:**_

Junior put down the glass he was drinking.

"I don't know." He said, almost sadly.

"How can you not know!" Yang demanded.

"I haven't talked to him! I haven't even seen him since the night you first came in here! He paid up front, I lent him my men, and none of them ever! Came! Back!" He stood up and emphasized the last few words with hand gestures.

"Why would he get rid of them?" I asked.

"I don't know! I guess he wasn't happy with them!" He pointedly looked over to his remaining men and shouted, "WHICH IS SOMETHING I CAN RELATE TOO!" Yang sighed and turned away.

"Come on, Gray." I put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her.

"Hold on, I've got one more question." I pulled out a plastic bag containing a bullet from my pocket and handed it to Junior.

"What's this?" He asked.

"An aura-piercing round. Someone tried to kill my brother with it, any idea where it was made?" He hummed and gave the bag a closer look.

"Can't say an exact location, but you'd need a wide, out of the way kind of place. Making these things is a pretty noisy business." He handed me the bag back and I nodded.

"Thanks."

_**Darce:**_

"What are we going to do?" I whispered to Blake. The crowd was flowing towards the stage, we'd be noticed if we walked out.

"I'm thinking." Blake hissed.

Over on the stage, the blonde girl whispered something in Roman's ear and pointed to us. Roman jerked his head and made angry eye contact with me.

"He sees us." I said calmly, giving him a wide smile and a two fingered salute. Blake saw an electrical box on the wall.

"He can't see in the dark." She commented, pulling out her sword and activating the gun.

I shifted my weapons into Gemino as Blake fired, dimming the room to what a human would think was total darkness, and I shot Roman's hat off of his head...again.

"You little brat!" cried Roman's voice.

"Darce! The window!" Blake shouted, pointing at the nearest one.

"Stop them!" Roman shouted, quickly followed by the noises of an activating mech.

We quickly dived through the window and ran for our lives, a wide smile on my face as I laughed. We heard the wall crash down behind us as Roman charged through it easily with his newest toy. We jumped onto the nearest roof and kept running. I pulled out my scroll.

"Call Weiss and Ruby! I'll get Gray!" I shouted to Blake, already pulling up my brother's number.

_**Gray:**_

My scroll buzzed and I saw Darce was calling me.

"Hey, bro. Got an-" I started.

"YOU NEED TO GET OVER HERE, NOW! BIG ROBOT! _VERY_ BIG ROBOT! TORCHWICK IS INSIDE IT! THIS IS SO AWESOME!" He screamed, nearly making me deaf.

"I think he wants help." Yang commented, putting on her helmet.

"Where are you?!" I asked.

Just then a giant robot ran past us, its footsteps matching those I could hear in Darce's call.

"YES, THAT WAS US! HURRY!"

"You heard him! Let's-" Yang had her motorcycle on and already did a doughnut before I could even finish.

_**Next chapter is when things get a little crazy. Someone gets kidnapped! Who will it be? Will they make it out okay? Will I milk it until you beg me to stop? Find out, next week on Dragon Ba-... er, Into the Glyph! See you then!**_


	16. I make new enemies

**_In which our hero is introduced to a pair of interesting companions. Enjoy._**

Ch. 14: I make new enemies

_**Darce:**_

Blake and I were jumping from car to car in an attempt to escape the wrath of a mech that was piloted by one of the most wanted criminals in the kingdom of Vale, Roman Torchwick. Though we were a good distance from him, he was catching up quickly. I noted that it was much faster than in the show, and internally admitted that it was probably because I shot Roman's hat off. Again.

Behind the mech was a motorcycle carrying Yang and Gray.

"It's got chicken legs!" I heard my brother squeal in glee. He was a long time fan of Invader Zim, I was so proud of him.

Gray activated Scorpion and prepared to fire rockets at the hulking robot, but just as he got a clear shot, Torchwick started to throw cars at them (I made a mental note to make a "Dog chasing cars" joke later). Yang took evasive maneuvers, nearly knocking Gray right off her bike. Once it started to let off, Gray took aim again and shot several rockets at it's back. When they got close enough Gray used his jets to launch himself at the mech. Holding on tightly with one hand, he used his other to deliver devastating blows.

"Oooo, this looks important!" He laughed. The top half of the mech started to spin violently, and he was just barely able to hang on.

I had landed on a moving truck to take a breather when I saw my brother's struggle.

'_Shit, I'm going to regret this._' I thought, out loud I shouted, "Gray, hold on!"

"_Spiders. Spiders everywhere!_" I whispered, concentrating as hard as I could. A stream of darkness shot out of my sleeves and right into the mech. Inside, Roman would suddenly be finding spiders of every description crawling around the monitors. I could hear screaming from inside, the mech's spinning slowed down, and I took this opportunity to help Gray.

I jumped as high as I could and tried to bring down the robot with a sword sweep, but as I got close Gray came loose and knocked right into me. We were sent flying off the side of the road.

'_Called it._' I thought as we fell faster and faster.

We hit the ground with a sound that was something between a crunch and a smack. our aura protected us from damage, but it still hurt like hell. We slowly recovered and got up, dusting ourselves off.

"That could've gone better." Gray grunted.

"Probably." I wheezed.

"So….what now?"

"I-"

"Why don't you play with _us_?" A new voice cut in.

We turned to see two figures approaching us. I recognized them immediately, they were the two extra girls from the White Fang recruitment meeting. I drew my sword and took a defencive stance, Gray followed my lead.

"And you are?" I asked.

"Mab Clementina. This is my sister, Lilith." Said the younger one with the knife.

"_Lily_." Said the other one testily.

"Whatever." Mab rolled her eyes and laughed.

An interesting thought suddenly struck me.

"This is just like that time Blake nearly blew up Weiss when they first met, isn't it Gray?"

"How-?" he questioned.

Mab furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"No, Ruby was the one to explode in front of Weiss!" Mab corrected. I grinned widely.

"Actually, Gray here was the one to do that. So the only way you'd know that Ruby originally did it was if you saw the anime!" I deduced quickly. She'd fallen for my nerd trap.

"RWBY isn't an anime." Gray grumbled to himself. We ignored him.

"Yes, but that applies to you too!" Mab said with a laugh, "So we're both from earth!"

I internally facepalmed.

"If you're from earth, then why are you helping Torchwick?!" Gray demanded.

The sisters shrugged.

"The opportunity presented itself. When we were teleported here, we arrived right in front of Cinder in the middle of a warehouse. After interrogating us, she decided we were good henchwoman material."

"What? That doesn't sound like her at all!" I cried in disbelief.

"I know, right?!" Mab agreed.

"What made her think two untrained teenaged girls, who might've been spies for all she knew, were worth her time? It's not like she couldn't have just killed you, or thrown you out at least."

"I don't know! But we learned how to fight so fast, and got these awesome weapons, that we barely cared!"

_**Gray:**_

Mab and Darce quickly started an energetic conversation that Lily and I largely ignored. Instead we focused on each other.

"I don't see a weapon on you, or an easy place to hide one." I commented cooly.

"It's hidden in plain sight." She replied simply.

A small silence hung in the air before I broke it with something that'd been bothering me:

"Aren't we supposed to be killing each other, or something?"

"My thoughts exactly."

With that, Lily brought up her arms in an offencive position and activated her weapon. Her vambraces flipped outward to form two jagged edged shields.

"I call her 'Timebo'!" She cried viciously. I mirrored her stance and activated my own vambraces.

"Mine's 'Scorpion'!" I said back with a grin. I was turning into a real adrenaline junkie, and loving every minute of it.

I jetted straight at her and struck as fast as I could, hoping to get past her shields. No dice, she raised them too fast and halted my attack. As my fist struck Timebo, however, it used the force of my impact to vibrate. It was like hitting a gong, but the noise was...odd. I felt it, more than heard it The resulting sound made my vision jitter and left me nauseous.

'_Infrasound?'_ I asked myself. It was the most logical answer.

I stumbled back and tried to get some distance from her, she smiled and suddenly her shields spun like giant sawblades. She swiped at me and I only barely dodged her, I was still wobbly from whatever her shields did.

"H-How'd you-?" Even my voice came out like I was hung over.

"Don't know." She shrugged, "Mab made my shields. She's the weapon freak. I just know that whenever you hit it, it messes with your head. The more you hit, the more the noise gets to you."

"Thadz cheap!" I slurred angrily. She just shrugged again.

"Tough shit."

She charged at me. Time seemed to slow down as I saw her getting closer and closer, it gave me time to think. I couldn't risk hitting her shields again, so my usual tactics were no good. Maybe it was time to use someone else's. I glanced over to Darce. The noise of our fight had reminded him and Mab that we were enemies. They were fighting each other, Mab with her large knife quickly blocking Darce's sword.

_How did Darce fight?_ He prefered hanging back and study his opponent, finding weak points and flaws. Then he'd distract them as he went for the jugular.

_What were Lily's flaws?_ Assuming she's been here as long as we have, she's probably trained for most of that time. She said she didn't make her weapon, but with that time she could've trained enough with it. If I could find a way to get past her shields, I could win.

I knew what to do. The world snapped back into normal time as I raised a hand and fired rockets in her general direction to act as distractions. She took the bait and quickly protected her torso and face. I used my jets to get behind her and hit the back of her head hard enough to knock down a house.

*_Crash*_

She flew a small distance and knocked into Darce.

"'Tough shit' yourself!" I called after her.

Mab, no longer having anyone to slash at, set her sights on me. She ran at me with a murderous grin that I'd previously only seen in psychological horror animes.

_**Darce, before the fight:**_

"And he just said you could enter Beacon?"

"Better, he _trained_ us for two months so we'd be as good as everyone else."

"Wait, it took you _two months_ to get as good as people who've been training for most of their lives?"

"Yeap."

"That's just like-"

_Crash!_ We looked over to see gray attacking Lily.

_Oh, shit, that's right!_ I thought, _We're supposed to be fighting!_

I could see Mab was thinking the same thought and we drew our weapons simultaneously. She drew her's faster and so attacked first. I managed to block her knife and we struggled like that for a bit.

"Mine's bigger." I grunted out as I jumped back a bit to avoid another attack. She gave a playful chuckle.

"Boys will be boys, I guess. Even kitties."

"So, I've been meaning to ask, why a knife?" I asked, slashing down ward only to have her block the attack last second. I noticed it during the White Fang meeting, and it drew my curiosity.

"I've got a thing for knives, and the blade itself is made out of some aura-piercing alloy." She shrugged.

I shuddered, remembering my near-death experience involving the stuff.

"That's it? I'm sensing a story behind it." I said, hiding my memory behind a smirk. She smiled at me.

"Ever since I got here I've been fascinated by this world's technology. One day I was studying applications for dust and I had this weird epiphany. After some experiments, I discovered a special concoction that turns fire dust into a kind of poison!"

"Really?"

" Of course I did, I've always been the smartest person in the room. And that's not all! After some tinkering, I was able to mimic a fictional disease, of which my blade is named after." She replied coyly.

"And what's that?"

"I'll give you a hint: Blood was its avatar and its seal -the redness and horror-"

"You recreated the Red Death?!" I shouted, surprised.

"Ohh, Kitty knows his Poe! You're almost as smart as me." She cooed.

"'_Kitty'_ had an obsession as a kid. As well as with Frost, Shakespeare, Shelley, Lewis, etc."

"Oh, brains are _hot_. Maybe if we don't kill you guys, you two could come back to my pla-"

*_Crash*_

Something slammed into me from my side and I was knocked over.

"'Tough shit' yourself!" I heard Gray shout.

_**Gray:**_

I quickly dodged her wild slash and put distance between us with my jets. If she designed Lily's "Timebo" as a side project, what could her knife do? For now, blocking was out of the question. If her weapon was anything like her sister's, one wrong move would be the end of me. The sense of danger that came from the situation flooded my blood with adrenaline, making me more alert and, most importantly, more alive. I took comfort in the high I'd come to associate with battle, dispelling fear and doubt. I raised my hands in a defensive position and gave her my best cock-sure smile. I opened my mouth to say something witty, but she beat me to the punch.

"So, I take it you're from earth to?"

"I might be. Though, don't you think it's a little weird that a faunus would come from your dimension?" I said neutrally. We began to slowly circle each other.

"Not really. The travellers can change anything during the transition between there and here. I used to be a boy."

A confused expression creased my face. "Really?"

She gave a loud laugh, "No, silly. I'm just messing with you. Though, I think I'd be one sexy guy~."

"Okay... Anyway, what the hell do you mean by travellers?" It was her turn to look confused.

"The one's that brought us here." I continued to stare at her blankly.

"Tall, Glow-y, covered in shadows?" She supplied. I snapped my fingers in recognition.

"Oh, yeah! I saw him at the shipping yard!"

"Only then? He hasn't done anything else?"

"Well, he saved Darce's life. But that was the only time I've seen him. Who is he? And you said Traveller_s_, as in there's more of them?"

"As to who they are, I have no idea. But, yes, there's two in this world."

"Thanks for the info." I put my hands back into a fighting position.

"I don't understand why you think you can win. My blade is deadly enough to kill you with one cut. It's as Edgar Allen Poe said: '_Darkness, decay, and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all._'" She smirked. Something about what she said reminded me of how Darce would get when talking about such topics. It also reminded me of my favorite way to annoy him.

"Actually, I believe it's '_Over most_.'" I corrected, holding a finger up. She frowned.

"No, it's '_Over all_.'"

"Most."

"All!"

"Most!"

"It's 'All' You idiot!" She angrily charged and attacked.

Her anger made her move more predictable, so I easily blocked the downward slash. I then angled my arm so that the knife slid off and away from me. With my elbow now pointing at her, I flared my jets, simultaneously getting away and burning her. Her aura protected her from actual damage, but it had to have hurt. I wanted to keep her enraged to make her an easier opponent, but I also wanted to avoid her knife at all costs. I thought keeping my distance would help until I found an opening, but it actually _made_ one. Mab reared back as if to throw her knife at me, and when she would've released it she pressed a button instead. The blade came out of the hilt attached to a metal coil and came at me like a fisher's hook. Her knife was also a _bladed whip_ apparently.

_Kinky._

I reflexively launched one of Scorpion's tails and caught her blade midair. I retracted my chains and yanked the hilt out of her hands. She yelped in surprise, but it was too late. I deactivated Scorpion and picked up the fallen weapon at my feet. On reflex I used my semblance to draw out it's skill, but there was something extra to the chill this time. I felt a buzzing in my head, and I was momentarily dazed. Then I laughed, a pleasant grin spread across my face. I lazily looked at the knife in my hand.

"_Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee_." I said with a chuckle. Mab blinked at me.

"Macbeth? Was that _motherfucking Macbeth?!_ You skewer a famous line from Poe, burn me, steal my most precious weapon, **and then pull a **_**quote from**_ _**Shakespeare**_ **out of your ass**?!" She raved.

I smiled wider.

"Indeed I did." I said contently.

I then flicked my wrist, flinging the blade at her in it's whip form (a little joystick was there to control it instead of using aura, something I was thinking of putting in Scorpion). She squeaked in surprise and rolled out of the way. It would've missed either way, I'm not just going to _kill_ an unarmed girl. That, however, did not apply to having a little fun. I wanted to see her squirm, her features contorted in fear and her eyes fill with-

I shook my head to dispel the thoughts that were invading my mind and threw the knife away from me.

_What the hell?_ I asked myself. I'd always had a sadistic side, but I kept it under control! Something about that knife…

Then I heard the sound of a gun cocking. My eyes snapped open and I saw Mad holding a flintlock pistol. She had a look of superiority about her and a slight blush dusting her face.

"How-?"

"You think someone as adept at weapon making as myself would only carry around one? Meet 'Seraph's Cloud'." She proclaimed haughtily.

I rolled my eyes and opened my mouth to respond when I heard a cry from behind me. I turned to see Lily holding Nihil against Darce's neck. His eyes were unfocused, and he looked like he'd puked his guts out. Both of which were symptoms of infrasound. How do I know so much about it, you ask? Found it while trolling the internet, and it caught my attention. Something

I was very glad of right now. Unfortunately, Darce didn't have that luxury, and his sword wouldn't have caused the shields to vibrate as much as my fists, so he wouldn't have picked up on it as soon as I did. Damn.

" n Don't move, or the cat dies!" Lily yelled.

"That's...racist…" Darce wheezed and smiled at me weakly.

He's making jokes. He knew it was bad and was trying to distract me from just how bad this whole situation was. Even if Lily wasn't holding a sword against Darce's throat, they were too far away to reach with my chains, and my rockets would damage Darce just as much as Lily. Jetting to her and punching her in the face was out of the question completely.

Sighing, I raised my hands in surrender.

"Alright, now, very slowly, kneel and put your hands on the ground." She continued. Mab's expression became even more smug as I complied.

She aimed her flintlock at my hands and a cloud of ice dust shot out and formed around my hands. I cried out in shock, but quickly realized I could easily break through this if I wanted. My many arguments with Weiss taught me how to deal with certain parts of my anatomy frozen solid. This was like putting superman in handcuffs, and I was going to let them think I was restrained until I had a plan.

The chance came sooner than expected Darce suddenly shot his hand up to his sword and electrified it. Lily screamed in pain and flinched away. I clenched my fists, broke through the ice, and dashed towards Mab as she fumbled to hit me with her glorified freeze ray. I dodged out of the way and K.O. punched her in the temple. She flew back and landed a few feet away from where Darce was getting his ass handed to him. I saw this and immediately charged to help my brother, but I was too late. Lilly slammed one of her shields into his face and Darce was down for the count. As he hit the ground, a Bullhead came out of nowhere.

When Darce saw it, he pulled out his gun. I thought he would shoot at the ship and get back up Borderlands-style, but instead he threw it to me. I halted my run to catch it, just as another girl appeared. She had hair that was pink on one side and brown on the other, her eyes were the same. Actually, her whole attire was a mis-match of brown, pink, and white. She smiled at me before disappearing in a flash of light, taking Mab, Lily, and Darce with her.

"DARCE!" I yelled. I fired rockets at the Bullhead, but it quickly flew away.

I desperately tried to chase it with my jets, but it was too fast. When I landed on the ground I slammed my fists.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"

"Gray?" asked a voice from behind me. I turned to see all of team RWBY.

"Gray, what's wrong? Where's Darce?" Ruby asked.

"**Where were you!?**" I rounded on them, my voice full of rage "**Darce is gone! They took him!**"

"What?! Who?!" Weiss asked.

"**Fuck if I know!**"

"Gray! Just calm down." Yang said soothingly.

"**Calm down?! CALM DOWN?! My brother was abducted by some crazy bitch after we fight two other crazy bitches because you guys never came to help us! Forgive me if I'm a LITTLE PISSED!**"

"That's not how it happened! Don't try and pin this on us!" Weiss said in a tone that was _not_ helping my mood.

"**Pin it on you?! We were knocked off the side of the street and you never looked for us! There was plenty of time for you to find us before he was kidnapped! WHERE. WERE. YOU!**"

"We were fighting our own battle with Roman Torchwick." Yang said. At that, I started to take deeper breaths. Screaming at my friends would solve nothing.

"What 'crazy bitch'?" Blake asked.

"She was dressed in pink, brown, and white. Her eyes were different colors." I replied, starting to calm down.

"That sounds like the girl that was just here. She helped Torchwick escape." Ruby supplied

"She was also at the White Fang meeting with two others."

"That would be Mab and Lily." I said, my voice getting some of its edge back. They nodded in understanding.

"Is that his gun?" Asked Ruby, pointing at Aut tucked into my belt.

"Yeah, Darce tossed it to me before he got captured."

"Why?" Blake asked. I shrugged.

"It must mean something. Use your semblance on it." Ruby suggested.

I was hesitant. When I tried that on Mab's weapon, I'd absorbed some of her personality. Mayby. It could've just been some side effect from the knife itself. Deciding to give it a shot, I gripped Aut in my hand and let the chill crawl up my arm.

Like last time, I felt something extra in the chill and my mind was immediately flooded with fragments of...I don't even know. It was...Darce. I just started to think like him. Not to the point where I thought I _was_ him, but enough that I started to act like him. I gained a slight slouch and my seemed to wander of their own accord to Blake.

"Wow, he's got a huge crush on you." I blurted out. "I already knew he liked you, but WOW."

Blake blushed and looked away as the rest of her team glanced at her.

"Let's see, what else?" I asked myself, running my fingers over Aut's surface, "He thinks Weiss is a good person, deep down. Yang is fun to hang around, and Ruby is pretty cool to. But what about the gun?"

"You can tell all that from his gun?" Yang asked.

"I just learned it myself."

"What happens when you touch your own gun?"

"I absorb myself, which makes no difference." I replied plainly. "I'm not getting anywhere with this, though." I put Aut back into my belt.

"We should go back to Beacon and try again tomorrow." Weiss advised.

"How will we explain Darce missing?" I asked worriedly.

"We'll figure it out, for now we have to go back." Blake said.

I sighed and nodded. Tomorrow. It's always tomorrow.

**_Oh nos! Darce is missing! Whatever shall become of him?_**


	17. I have a dream

_**Hello my wonderful readers! I'm here to give you guys another chapter!**_

_**WARNING: contains torture. Well, more like violent **_**_interrogation, but still kinda torture-y. Also may or may not contain graphic lesbian BDSM sex._**

**_Anyway, on to the story!_**

Ch. 15: I have a dream

_**Gray:**_

"What if we tell them he went off to take care of family business?" Yang suggested as we made our way back to Beacon. I shook my head.

"Ozpin won't believe that."

"Why not? It sounds good enough."

"Because he knows we have no family to have business with." A moment of awkward silence passed.

"Oh, sorry." She apologized.

"It's fine. We should really focus."

"Right. What if we say he went into heat and is in a hotel to wait it out?"

"Only female faunus go into heat." Blake interjected. This caused the rest of her team to give her a weird look, but they said nothing.

"Okay, how about-"

"Yang, just...stop." I interrupted. "We'll figure something out when we've had some rest. We're almost there."

When we arrived at Beacon we headed straight to our dorms, tired and weary. However, standing in front of the hallway was none other than the headmaster himself.

"Good evening. Why, might I ask, do you all look like you've been through a rather tough battle?"

"We trained." Yang lied easily.

"Really? And where has the elder Mr. Forge gone off to?"

"He's...taking care of some business elsewhere. He'll be back in a few days." I replied cooly.

"I see." His tone told me exactly what he saw: Total bullshit.

"Yes. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm very tired and would like to go to bed."

"Don't let me keep you, then. But before you go, I'd like to remind you that you missed our appointment today."

I mentally face palmed. In the excitement, I'd forgotten all about our meeting with Ironwood.

"Sorry, I got a little caught up in...training..."

"Hmm." Was all he had to say.

I pushed past him and went into my dorm. Inside was Aries and Murphy. They both nodded their heads at me in greeting and went back to studying. But Aries did a double take and looked at me worriedly.

"Are you okay? Where's Darce?" He quickly asked.

"I'm fine. Darce is just out-"

"Please, Gray, don't lie to us." Aries interrupted. I sighed.

"He's fine. Don't worry. I just need to sleep." My voice was full of genuine tiredness.

With that, I fell onto my bed and was out like a light

_**The Dream:**_

I've had lucid dreams before, but this was different. It was like I was actually in a white room. I knew I was dreaming, but the same time I knew that I was supposed to pay attention to something. A shadow was forming in one corner, and as I watched it turned into the shape of Darce.

"Gray...Gray…" He was mumbling to himself.

"Darce!" I rushed to his side.

"NO! Stay away!" He immediately pushed me away. I fell to the ground and looked at him in disbelief.

"Darce, what's wrong?"

"We don't have much time, Gray, I can feel them doing something again. Just listen to me. I'm only able to do this because they gave me some extra juice. And I had a coach..." I noticed he was keeping his hood up to cover his face.

"Darce? What's happening? What do you mean-"

"JUST LISTEN! Do you have Aut with you in the real world?"

"Yes, Why-"

"Keep it close. You'll figure it out, I know you can. I just need a bit more time to figure out their plan other than the bombs. They're keeping me in their base of operations, ask Blake about it when you wake up." Suddenly he screamed and clutched his head.

"DARCE?!" He held up his hand to keep me away.

"They're doing something to me, Gray. I-" He was cut of by Mab's voice.

"_It writhes! It writhes! With mortal pangs, the mimes become its food-_"

Darce clutched his head again.

"Nonononononono! I don't want to!" He cried.

"What are they doing to you?!" But he was out of it. His voice became jumbled and erratic.

"Feeding bad wolf! Bad wolf! _S_**t**o_p_ **f**e_e_**d**i_n_**g** _**it**_!" He grabbed my shoulders and started shaking me.

For the first time, I could see past his hood. It wasn't his face he was hiding.

It was his blackened, hollow eyes.

_**Waking world, lunch time:**_

"And you're sure it wasn't just a dream?" Weiss asked skeptically.

"Positive." I replied confidently.

We all stared at Darce's gun, laying in the middle of our lunch table as we ate. None of us had found anything on it that would indicate why gave it to me.

"Why didn't he just tell you why he left it?" Weiss question further.

"I think it holds a way to find him, but he wants us to wait a little longer so he can gather intel while he's there."

"And how will he gain this intel?"

"Probably invading the dreams of those inside the facility."

"Why would he need to be there? Obviously he can do it over long distances."

"He said they were giving him something that was amping up his powers."

"Why would they do that?"

"I don't think they know they are. But he didn't say anything about it so I'm not sure. Are you done?" I asked, annoyed. She huffed but nodded.

"I just can't figure it out." Ruby spoke up, "I haven't found a single screw out of place. What could be hiding in it?"

"Leave it to Darce to hide something so well that not even a master could spot it." I muttered.

"He does this often?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah, usually the answer is so obvious that you feel like an idiot when you figure it out. But if there's anyone who can crack it open, it's me." I said confidently.

"Right, but this is like a rubix cube without any colors. And shaped like a gun. He might've even boobytraped it." Blake added.

"Oh, he _definitely_ boobytrapped it, I disabled them all." I said casually.

"You sure you sure you got all-"

"WEISS, STOP QUESTIONING EVERYTHING I SAY!" I said in an exaggerated scream. That shut her up.

"We're not going to get anywhere by yelling at each other. Or questioning everything." Blake said, giving pointed looks at Weiss and me.

The bell rang and we all let out a disappointed sigh.

"Alright, we'll try again after school." Ruby said dejectedly.

I left to go to botany, breaking away from the others. On my way there, I saw three students on the other side of the hall. It was those guys Darce said to stay away from. The were quietly whispering to each other. At that moment, a thought struck me:

They probably knew where Darce was.

A plan quickly formed in my head.

I knew of a room deep in the underground levels of the academy that no one ever visits. I'd discovered it within the first week of my coming here. It was secluded enough that no one could hear you scream if you were inclined to do so.

All I needed was to get one of them alone.

But that was unnecessary, because the green haired one split off from the group and started walking my direction. She looked like she was going to run an errand, and didn't give me a second glance. The other two stalked off around the corner and disappeared.

I couldn't have asked for a better opportunity. As the girl neared me, she looked at me with a cruel glint in her eye so concealed that I would've missed it if I wasn't looking. We walked passed each other, and just as she was behind me, I spun and hit her on the back of the head as hard as I could. She never saw it coming, and never had a chance to activate her aura.

She was out like a light.

It was time to put on a show, and release the beast.

_**Spooky basement room:**_

She woke up slowly at first, then she was wide awake as she realised her hands and feet were bound to a very uncomfortable chair.

"What the fuck!?" She cried.

"Good, you're awake. I was starting to think I hit you too hard and would have to grab that gray-haired guy." I said lazily from my very comfy chair in front of her.

The room itself was bare concrete except for an extremely rusted table that separated us. There were deep nail gouges on the table, angled as if the person on the girl's side had put them there. I put them there to make it look like I'd done this many times before. If there's one thing Darce taught me, it's theatrics. The girl was covered by a lot of chains that served no other purpose than making her uncomfortable, and the armrests of her chair also had gouges in them.

Again, theatrics. I wanted instill as much fear as I could.

It looks like it worked, because she screamed at the top of her lungs. I simply waited with a disinterested expression.

"You done?" I asked when she stopped.

"Where am I?!" She demanded.

"Deep within the bowels of the school. It was surprisingly easy to get you here unnoticed. As you can tell, no one's coming." I answered honestly.

"What do you want?!"

"My brother. Why else would I go to such lengths?"

"Who's your brother?" She asked, her tone suddenly mock-innocent.

"Darce. That guy who bumped into you a few days ago?"

"Oh, him? He's gone?" She replied.

I slammed my hands onto the table hard enough to leave a dent. I flared my aura around my aura-activated contacts that turned my eyes solid glowing red.

"**Don't waste my time!**" I shouted, using every bit of my wolf side to make myself more intimidating.

I dug my hands into the middle of the table and tore it in half, getting rid of the only thing separating me from her. Then I picked up her chair (and the girl with it) and slammed it against the wall.

"**Where's my brother?!**" I screamed in her face.

I could tell by her face that the scare tactics were working. She looked terrified and tried to shrink away from me. But after a second, she regained her composure and glared defiantly at me. Time for a different approach. I growled, but dropped her, returned to my seat, and undid my contacts. She landed wrong and her chair toppled onto its side.

"You know, I was surprised when Darce first told me you and your friends where thieves and murderers. You three looked so normal, if a little snobby." Her eyes widened from the floor, but she kept up the mock-innocence.

"I don't know what you're talking about." she said coolly.

"Well, maybe _this_ will jog your memory." I said, pulling out a vial of blue dust, "Do you know why Darce prefers blue dust in his gloves?"

She remained silent, but I could tell she knew what I was about to do.

"It's because electricity goes right through aura. But due to the nature of aura, it's practically _impossible_ for a huntsman, or in your case, huntress, to die from the electrical heart overstimulation that comes from too much voltage over a period of time. That is, until you run out of aura, but that's a particularly..._painful_ process. Like this."

I tossed it at her hard enough to break it over her torso. She screamed and shook as the electricity went through the chains and into practically every inch of her body, which was glowing as her aura protected her. It couldn't stop the pain, but it healed the injuries it caused. When it was done, she was left exhausted and panting.

"Ready to talk?" I asked. She spat in my general direction. I then realized something, "I think I missed a vital part of this interrogation."

"What?!" She growled out.

"I don't even know your name."

"How rude." She said sarcastically, but didn't supply an answer.

"Fine, have it your way." I sat her chair back up. "I'll just have to give you one."

She crooked an eyebrow, but remained silent.

"Let's see…you've got green hair, so how about, 'Sosai'?"

"Sosai?"

"It's japanese for green."

"Japanese?"

"It's a language from where I come from."

"You mean Earth?" She said with no shortage of superiority.

"Ah, that's right. I forgot that Mab and Lily are working with you. Yes, I mean Earth."

"What's it like there?"

I recognized the tone in her voice: she was trying to distract me. I saw subtle shifts in her shoulders, and I knew that she was trying to escape the chains. Too bad I used the full extent of my semblance to make them inescapable. But I decided to play along.

"I come from the coast of a place called Oregon. It's cold and wet, but it's home. I'm a long ways away from it now, but I've learned to deal. Are you done yet, Sosai?" Her movements stopped and I smirked.

"Enough about me, tell me about my brother. Most importantly, his location."

"My team will be looking for me." She dodged my question.

"I'm sure they will. And if I can't get anything out of you, I'll tell them where you are and they'll walk right into an ambush."

"Cinder is smarter than that."

"Is that the older girl that was with you? Doesn't matter, brains don't protect you from a land mine loaded with enough blue dust to take down a zoo."

At that she struggled harder.

"Don't you dare!" She cried.

"I won't, if you just tell me where Darce is."

"Never!"

I threw another vial at her.

"This is going to be a looooong day for the both of us." I said over her agonized cries.

_**I said "May or may not" didn't I? Oh well, don't forget to hit those Follow and Favorite buttons, and drop a review while you're at it! That way you're the first one there for next week's installation of...Into The Glyph!**_

_**(dramatic explosion noises)**_


	18. I am Darce

_**This week we will learn what's been going on in Darce's side of things, Let's hope it's not too bad!**_

_**While I have you're attention, I've got something for you at the bottom A/N.**_

_**See you there!**_

Ch. 16: I am Darce

_**Darce, a few hours after the kidnapping:**_

I woke up in a dark room. With my night vision, I could see that I was chained to what looked like a dental chair with my hands bound behind my back. Even my tail was bound, and I couldn't feel gloves on my hands. There was an unlit light bulb hanging from a tether on the ceiling above me. In front of me was a closed wooden door. A rag was wrapped around my mouth to gag me.

'_Well, shit._' I thought to myself, and immediately started struggling.

Just then, the door creaked open and Mab walked in with a paper bag.

"Morning~!" She sang and walked slowly towards me. She undid my gag and smiled widely, "Better?"

"Much, now what the hell do you want with me?"

"We haven't decided yet." She replied.

"Then why'd you take me in the first place?"

"We got you by accident, Neo picked you up when she was teleporting my sister and me."

"Great." I said sarcastically.

"Don't worry, we probably won't kill you. For now we're just gonna interrogate you."

"This is the worst interrogation I've ever seen."

"What?! Why?!" She looked genuinely offended.

'_As I thought_,' I internally smirked, '_Histrionic Personality Disorder. She can't handle criticism, and seeks approval even in her victims.'_

Seductive behavior? Check.

Exaggerated emotions? Check.

Easily manipulated?...

"Well, for starters, how am I supposed to answer your questions if I'm distracted by these restraints?"

"What's wrong with them? Prisoners are usually tied up when questioned."

"Yeah, but I need to move my tail! Seriously, I feel all weird if I can't move it around. It's a cat thing."

"Oh, well that's fine I suppose. Lily did go a bit overboard, I guess." She reached over and undid the chains around my tail.

'_Check. Thank god for aimless wanderings of the internet!_' My internal smirk grew to a maniacal grin.

"Of course she did, she's not as good at this as you are." I said sweetly. She didn't even realize that I'd never seen Lily interrogate anyone.

"I know, right?" She smiled warmly at me.

I tucked my tail into the back pocket of my jeans and felt around for the lockpicks I kept in there. I found nothing and internally swore.

'_They must've emptied my pockets while I was out._'

"So, I suppose you've got questions for me?" Hopefully my ego stroking would get me in good with her enough to forgo any torture.

"Oh, right….um, how was your day?" She ventured.

'_Really?'_

"It was actually pretty okay until I got bashed in the face with Lily's shield, but it's gotten better. Your's?"

'_I can feel the brown on my nose._' I thought unpleasantly, though I didn't let it show.

"Oh, it's been great! I get to talk to a guy with adorable kitty ears until Cinder decides whether or not to kill him!"

"He sounds awesome." I said with false enthusiasm.

"Yeah, so….what kind of things do you like?"

'_Why does this feel like some kind of fucked up speed dating?_' I asked myself.

"Well, poetry, obviously. I also like pretty much anything Roosterteeth, especially RWBY and Red vs. Blue. Let's see, what else? I really like Doctor Who, Supernatural, stuff like that."

"I LOVE THOSE SHOWS!" She squealed.

"Yeah, those were the hardest to give up after I came here."

"Me too. Those and anime."

"Oh, what kind of anime do you like?"

She was about to reply, but just then the door swung open and Lily stepped in.

"Mab! What are you doing!" Lily demanded

"What? I was bored!" She whined.

"We don't know what he's capable of! For all we know, he might have some mind control semblance!"

"Well, obviously he doesn't, or he wouldn't still be tied up now, would he? Besides, didn't he have some electrical attack? Couldn't that be one of them?"

"No, that was dust in his gloves. You, cat, what is it?"

"Darce. Darce Forge."

"Not you name, your semblances!"

"Isn't Darce a girl name?" Mab asked

"Say please, use my actual name, I've only got one semblance, and Darce is a guy name. You're thinking of Darcey."

"What do you mean, only one semblance? Your traveler didn't tell you?" Lily narrowed her eyes at me.

"They've never spoken to theirs. Either Nox is more talkative, or breaking their rules."

"Alright, I'm lost. What rules? Who's Nox?" I questioned.

"Nevermind that, _Darce_. Could you tell us your semblance, _please_."

"I can summon and control creatures of the night." I lied. I showcased it by making a "bat" come out of the collar of my shirt. It screeched and flew out of the room.

Mab looked at me with this weird expression, and suddenly this blinding light came out of her eyes. It burned my skin and I cried out.

"You're lying!" Mab said accusingly.

"The fuck was that!" I shouted back.

"My Earth semblance."

"Your what?!"

"You've got one too, you just haven't figured it out yet."

"MAB!" Lily shouted.

"What?" Mab shouted back annoyedly.

"He didn't need to know that!"

"Whatever. Anyway, my earth semblance is a light reveals the truth."

"So it burned me?"

"Because you lied." She shrugged.

"Enough of this. I suppose it doesn't matter in the end, the result is the same." Lily said firmly.

"What result?" I asked cautiously.

"_My_ earth semblance. Cinder decided she wants to keep you." She reached a hand out, a dark energy pouring out of her palm.

'_What would the Doctor do?!_' I scrambled. Then it came to me: '_He'd talk until he came up with a plan!_'

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. WAIT!" I shouted. Lily pulled away.

"What?" She asked, annoyed.

"U-uh. Your semblances!" I stalled, "I noticed that Mab was particular about the whole 'truth' part of it. In a sense it's the opposite of my remnant semblance, where I can create illusions. I call them 'stories' because that's why I can make them, but, really, what's the difference between a story and a lie? Then there's the fact that her's is light based, while mine is dark based. So, if ours are opposites, and we're both from earth, I don't think that's a coincidence, do you?"

"Where are you going with this?" Lily asked impatiently.

'_This is where a sonic screwdriver would come in handy._'

"Well, if she and I are opposites, then that same logic dictates that you'd be Gray's opposite, right?" I continued.

"Right." Mab said.

'_Keep talking. Think, think, think!_'

"W-well, Gray's semblance allows him to be skilled with anything he touches. So what does that make your's?"

"I can suppress a person's semblance by locking away whatever fuels it. Your's is stories? I'll probably take away your memories."

'_Shit, shit, shit-_'

"O-oh, well, um, how does that translate into two semblances?"

"She can also make people go crazy." Mab supplied.

"MAB!"

"What? If he's gonna lose his memories, what's the point of keeping it a secret?"

"What do you mean, 'make people go crazy'?" I asked. Lily sighed.

"You know that old saying: Everyone's got two wolves fighting in them, a good one and a bad one?"

"And the winner is the one you feed the most? Yeah, why?"

"I can 'feed' a person's bad wolf, so to speak."

"You can turn people into the worst version of their self." I clarified.

"I guess so, yes."

"And you plan to do both of those things to me. Why?" I quirked my head to the side in confusion. Mab smiled and looked at her sister expectantly.

"Can I tell him?" She asked excitedly.

"How do you know why Cinder wants this?"

"Because she and I are besties, and I know how she thinks." Mab smiled that wide, crazy smile of her's. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Fine. Let's see how much you get right."

"Alright. She wants you to suppress his semblance for obvious reasons, but she didn't know it'd take away his memories in the process. Then she wants you to turn him evil for long enough to tell us about him and his team, because one of them might've set up a plan against us or told the staff about us. But that wouldn't work, again, because of the memory loss. Then she probably wants you to kill him."

Lily blinked at Mab in obvious shock. Mab's expression didn't change throughout her explanation, nor did it now. She was still wearing that crazed smile.

"And I suppose you've got a better idea." Lily deadpanned after she recovered

"As a matter of fact, I do!"

"This can't be good…" Lily mumbled, mirroring my own thoughts.

"After you get rid of his memories and morals, I was thinking of….molding him, in a sense."

"You just want a human pet that's as insane as you, don't you?"

"Maaayyyybeeee~."

'_Oh, fuck! I do NOT want to be this psycho's pet! Wait, there's no way Lily AND Cinder will agree to this, right?_' I tried to calm down.

"Fine, let's call Cinder." Lily sighed, "Knowing how she is with you, she'll go along with it."

'_Oh…. fuck._' I thought dejectedly.

"For now, I think I'll just declaw him." She reached a hand to my face, and before I could struggle I was plunged into darkness.

_**?:**_

I opened my eyes for the first time and looked around me. I was bound to some kind of chair in a dim room with three other people. One of them, a twenty-something woman in a red dress sat in front of me with a kind smile.

"Good morning." She said gently, "How are you?"

"Who...where…?" I stuttered out. I didn't recognize the room I was sitting in or the people surrounding me, and I was scared. I felt weak and tired, and my mind was hazy. Like I was thinking through syrup.

"Shh, it's okay." The woman said soothingly, "We found you in a field not far from here. My name is Cinder. Can you tell me your name?"

"My...my name?" I searched my mind for anything, but came up with nothing. My eyes widened as I realized I couldn't remember _anything_. "I don't...I can't...remember."

"That's normal, we found you with severe head trauma. My name is Cinder. "

'_Liar._' Said a voice in my head.

'_Hello?_' I mentally called out, but received no response.

"You okay?" The woman's voice snapped me back into the real world. "You zoned out for a moment."

"Something...in my head…"

"It's alright, you just need rest. Mab, undo his chains and take him to the guest room. We'll talk again tomorrow."

"Alright, come on, Kitty." Said a short girl sitting next to me. She released my bonds and helped me up.

"Kitty? Is that my…"

"No, that's just a nickname I thought up."

"Why?"

"'Cuz you've got the most adorable cat ears I've seen on a faunus. I'll think of a better name later."

'_Enemy!_' The voice called again. I felt a searing headache erupt. I cried out in pain and fell to the floor.

"Lily! What's wrong with him?!" Mab called out to the other one.

"I made it more temporary then usual so we could see the effect. Put him in bed, I'll take care of it."

I felt them lift me onto a bed while I writhed in pain. Fragments of memory were coming back to me. But just as I was piecing it all together, Lily placed a hand on my head and I fell unconscious.

_**Darce:**_

It was really weird seeing my body move without me moving it. I was conscious the whole time this "other Darce" was stumbling around in my skin. I tried to communicate with him, but nothing seemed to work. I was trapped inside my own mind. When they put him to sleep, I was still wide awake. Actually, I could feel an energy building inside me whenever Lily strengthened the seal that separated me from my body.

After a while, I realized that I wasn't staring at the back of my eyelids, but I was in some kind of black room.

"I prefer to think of it as an 'undeveloped dreamscape'." Said a familiar voice behind me. I turned to see Gray.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm not." His head turned into the green glowing helmet of Delta from Red Vs. Blue. "I'm just a memory of Gray." His head then changed back.

"So, you're saying I'm like Church?" I asked. His head changed back into Delta.

"Technically, only you are saying it."

"Okay, please stop doing that." I said, annoyed.

"Fine, you're no fun."

"So, what is this then?" I gestured to the room in general.

"You subconsciously designed this place to teach yourself your semblance."

"I already know my semblance."

"Not the full extent of it. Come on, think about it: What's a dream?"

"What do you mean?"

"What's a dream? Come on, Darce, you can figure it out!"

"A...story...Are you saying I can control dreams?"

"Yep."

"What am I supposed to do with that? Lily suppressed my semblance, remember?"

"And yet you already doing it."

"What?"

"Your semblance is what's allowing you to retain your memories despite the seal, and preserving your mental being. Right now, Lily is in the process of feeding your bad wolf, so you'd better figure something out before it gets to you."

"Do you think I could break into other people's dreams?"

"Only while Lily is feeding you that dark energy of her's."

"Okay, I'm going to try contacting the real you." I closed my eyes and reached out with my mind.

"Try thinking about him." Dream Gray recommended.

"Gray...Gray…" I chanted.

I felt a tug, and I opened my eyes to see a white room in the distance. I started towards it, but Dream Gray grabbed my arm.

"Before you go, you might want to cover yourself."

"What?" I looked down to see if I was naked, but to my relief I was dressed in my usual attire.

"Your eyes, Darce." His hand changed into a mirror and showed my my face.

My eyes looked charred and empty, like someone had burned my eyes out.

"Oh, shit! What happened?"

"Lily." He said simply.

I pulled my hood over my head and walked back to the white room.

"Gray...Gray…" I continued.

_**Dream:**_

"Well," I said to myself, "My work here is done."

I stood there silently for a while, watching Darce disappear into the distance. My form flickered out of the shape of his brother, and I became my true self: A shadowy figure that was vaguely humanoid. I knew without looking that my only visible detail would be my glowing white eyes

"For now." I purred in my real voice.

The only question was: How was I going to entertain myself until the new comer woke up?

**_So, I tried getting you all to give me some fun questions for my brother and I (RPing as our characters) about the story, and it failed epically. But I'm gonna try again, this time I want you guys to PM the questions and I will answer them a month after I have posted this, 5/15/15. (I really like fives :-3)_**

**_They can be anything about the story, and we will try our best to answer them!_**

**_Alas, that is all! Until next week, my beautiful readers!_**


	19. I am Gray

_**This one took FOREVER to finish! I got major writer's block throughout this chapter, and my editor has been too busy to do his job! But he assures me that I probably did fine. So this chapter may or may not be of lower quality than usual.**_

Ch. 17: I am Gray

_**Gray, present:**_

"Come on, Sosai, work with me here."

"Go to hell!"

"You first."

It'd been four hours since I started torturing her, and she wasn't any closer to telling me what I needed to know. Even after I depleted _all_ of her aura by electrocution. It'd apparently been even more painful than I'd read, at least that's what her facial expressions and screams told me.

"This is getting boring. If you don't talk by dinner time, which is in five minutes, I'm just going to go eat and leave you here until tomorrow. I'll gag you and activate the mines I've placed all throughout this room. I'll talk to your team in the morning and then...well, you know." I said.

She glared at me, but I could see her resistance starting to crumble. She obviously cared for her teammates and didn't want me to get them, but she didn't want to betray them either.

"You're bluffing." She crooked, the screaming and shouting finally taking their toll. I sighed and stood up.

I knocked her chair over and kicked her in the stomach.

"I'm! Really! Not!" I punctuated each word with kicks

"Fuck off!" She grunted out. I sighed.

"Fine, have it your way."

I sat her up and gagged her before she could react. As I turned to leave I could hear her squirming and trying to scream through the gag, but she was too exhausted and her throat was too raw to do anything.

"Goodnight, Sosai."

_**?, earlier that morning:**_

My eyes slowly slid open as I awoke from a dreamless sleep. Looking around, I found myself in the room Mab and Lily had put me in last night.

'_Last night..._' I pondered.

Last night was my only memory. I had no name, no friends, no family, no home. I sat up and fought off the sudden crushing loneliness by thinking off the people I _did_ have. Mab seemed nice, as did Cinder. Lily came off as kind of cold, but I'm sure she's just being cautious. Three people, I read somewhere that you needed only three close friends to achieve self-actualization.

That thought gave me pause. Where had I read that? How was it that I could remember that? Thinking about it was bringing on another headache, although it was only a minor one. Especially compared with the one I had yesterday. A knock rang out from my door.

"Who is it?" I called groggily.

"Mab, can I come in?"

"Is it locked?"

"No, just thought I'd ask in case you were naked or something."

"Why would I be naked?"

"Never mind. Can I come in or not?"

"Sure, I'm decent."

The door creaked open and Mab popped her head in. Seeing that I was, in fact, fully clothed, she skipped inside with the cheeriness of a nine year old. I took a moment to actually look at what I was wearing.

I had on a dark blue hoodie that had diamond shaped bits of metal sown into the quilted fabric. My hands were calloused but slender. I had a long, flexible tail sprouting out of the small of my back. There were arm and leg bracers hidden in the sleeves of my hoodie and the legs of my jeans. I checked my pockets but found nothing but lint.

I looked over to Mab, who was patiently waiting for me.

"Do you want a mirror?" She asked.

"Yes, please." I replied, keeping the eagerness from my voice.

She pulled a small mirror from her pocket and handed it to me.

"I thought you might, so I brought this." She explained.

I took it and stared at my reflection. I had greenish blue eyes, a fair complexion, and short black hair with two black cat ears. I wasn't ugly, but I wasn't handsome either, and I had a small, almost invisible scar over my right eyebrow. I gave a small hum at my reflection and handed the mirror back.

"Not what I thought I'd look like." I commented.

"What were you expecting?"

"A mustache, maybe a goatee." I joked, and she laughed.

"Anyway, breakfast is ready if you're hungry."

"I'm starving!" I said, getting up and following her to the mess hall.

_**Darce:**_

I nearly gagged at how she was talking to the Other Darce. Almost like how an owner talks to a pet kitten. That's probably all Mab saw him as.

"Aw, cheer up. At least it's not you." Said a shadow next to me. I jumped at its sudden presence.

"What the-! Who are you?!"

"Don't you recognize me?" It said, amused. Its head flickered into the shape of Gray, then back.

"Dream Gray?"

"Call me Dream, I'm more than just Gray. I'm everything."

"O...kay then. Why are you here?"

"I _AM_ this place. Like I said, I'm everything. But more specifically, I'm here to break you out."

"Break me out? How?"

"Lily sealed your _remnant_ semblance, but she doesn't yet know how to seal earth ones. So we'll use that."

"Alright, problem: I have no fucking idea what my so-called 'earth semblance' is."

"Your remnant semblance allows you to making beings out of darkness, your earth semblance lets darkness make a being out of _you_."

"That makes zero sense." I deadpanned. He looked offended.

"You want out or not?"

"Yes, but I want a plan that I can understand, not a riddle." I said irritably.

"I thought you liked riddles." He monotonously mumbled.

"There's a time and place. Not here, and not now." I defended. He gave a loud sigh.

"Fine, I'll spell it out for you: You can transfer your consciousness into your shadow."

I blinked at him.

"...You know what? I don't even care anymore." I said, throwing my arms up in defeat, "How do we do this?"

"Simple." He said.

He put a hand to my chest and shoved me to the ground. Only I didn't hit the ground, I passed right through it, screaming all the way. When I opened my eyes, I was on the floor of the real world. I tried to get up, but nothing happened. Looking around, I saw my body sitting in a chair eating. Then I realized something very important: My feet were attached to his.

'_Holy shit, I'm really my own shadow._' I thought, but with no actual surprise. I was learning to just not question anything. Ever.

'_Why couldn't I just have a straightforward semblance? Ruby can run fast, Yang can punch hard, Gray can do stuff. Me? I get a smorgasbord of impractical darkness shit. Why shadows and darkness, anyway?! I'm not that gloomy! I'm actually usually very pleasant!_' I mentally complained to no one.

I eventually figured out that I could glide around the floor of my own accord, but only within a certain distance of my body. three-dimensional movement was both impossible and uncomfortable. Imagine reaching your hand forward, but all that happens is your hand is now in the same place as your elbow. It feels weird, really weird.

After a while the Other Darce got up to put his bowl away, and I was dragged with him. I tried tugging away from him again, but this time I could actually feel some of the resistance loosen. Redoubling my efforts, I yanked at my feet and came free. I immediately regretted it, all of a sudden all of the lights in the room started to burn me. I was an intense sting all over my body and steam began to rise out of me. I quickly shoved my feet back and the burning stopped.

I sighed: This was going to be a long day.

_**Gray:**_

As I opened the door to leave, I was greeted by the horrified face of Yang.

"Y-Yang! What are you-?" I stuttered.

"I could ask you the same thing! What the hell do you think you're doing to her!" She yelled.

"She knows where Darce is." I said, putting on a calmer expression.

"How do you know that?"

"Darce told me."

"And that makes _torture_ alright?!" She demanded.

"What if it was Ruby, Yang? How far would you go?" I questioned.

She remained silent for a moment.

"That's different." She spoke up.

"How?"

"She's my little sister. Darce is your older brother, he can take care of himself."

"Yes, because we all know that Ruby, wielder of one of the most dangerous weapons on Remnant, couldn't take care of herself in a fight. It's not like her skills are so great that they impressed Ozpin to move her forward two years, making her the second youngest student here." There was more sarcasm in my voice than any actual dialog.

"Second youngest? Who's the first?" She blinked.

"Me, I'm younger by three months."

"YOU'RE FIFTEEN?!" She asked, more shocked by this than walking in on me torturing someone.

"Yeah, why is that so hard to imagine?" I was genuinely confused.

"You look more like seventeen!"

"I'm tall for my age. And hungry, can we go grab dinner now?"

She uneasily glanced over my shoulder to look at Sosai once more before giving a hesitant nod.

"Fine. But we're going to have a talk about this later."

"Sure, food first."

"W-wait…" Sosai's weak voice came from behind me. I turned to see her struggling to get my attention.

"Finally ready to talk?"

"I couldn't if I wanted to, I have no idea where he is. But I _do_ know how you can get him…"

_**Darce:**_

If shadows had mouths, I'd be sighing out of both boredom and irritation. Not only was I subjected to seeing a certifiable psychopath treat my body like her new pet, but she was also making thinly veiled come-ons that he just wasn't understanding.

Then she just _had_ to break out the laser pointer. _And he fucking went with it!_ I had to stop myself from pinching the bridge of the nose I didn't have. One of the only reasons I'd stayed a shadow was so I could look around with my own eyes. So far I hadn't seen much other than White Fang grunts walking around doing nothing. Frankly, I was surprised that with so many people around no one noticed a shadow moving of its own accord. These guy's apparently weren't mental giants.

The other reason I'd stayed a shadow was because I had no idea how to get back into my body. You know, just a tiny detail.

A piece of conversation drew my attention back to Mab.

"So, you really can't remember your name?"

"No, nothing. I keep finding snippets of...stuff. An obscure bit of trivia here, a random statistic there. Did you know that only 35% of faunus have more than one physical animal trait? I guess I'm in the 35% since I've got both cat ears _and_ a tail."

"Interesting, anything else?" She said innocently, but I could see she was relieved that Lily's brainwashing was holding.

"Yea…" The guy in my body got a spaced out look for a second before clearing his throat.

"_She says she's no good _

_With words, but I'm worse_

_Barely stuttered out_

_A joke of a romantic stuck to my tongue_

_Weighed down with words too _

_Overdramatic_

_Tonight it's 'it can't get much worse'_

_Vs. 'no one should ever feel like'.._"

"_I'M TWO QUARTERS AND A HEART DOWN_

_AND I DON'T WANT TO FORGET HOW YOUR VOICE SOUNDS_

_THESE WORDS ARE ALL I HAVE SO I WRITE THEM_

_I NEED THEM JUST TO GET BY!_" Mab joined in.

They went on like that, singing the rest of "Dance, Dance" by Fall Out Boy, until Lily walked in.

"Mab, we need to talk."

"Aw, come on, Lily. We'll be quieter!" Mab complained.

"It's not that. Cinder got a call. It's that wolf faunus, he has Emerald and wants to exchange her for the cat."

"Cat?" Not me asked.

"YOU." She growled angrily.

"Oh, why do they want me?"

"You're probably a wanted criminal." Mab lied easily.

'_Oh, you bitch! Wait, Gray kidnapped Emerald?_'

"I'm a what?!" Not me cried.

"How'd he get her number anyway?" Mab asked, ignoring Not me.

"He tortured it out of Emerald." Lily said with a sneer.

'_Now he's doing full blown torture? And Lily should really work on those anger issues._'

"That's not our only problem." Lily continued.

"What?"

"We have a spy." Lily looked directly at me.

'_Uh-oh. Gigs up, time to haul ass!_'

I quickly tore myself from Not Me's feet, bearing the stinging pain from the lights, and glided as fast as I could to the nearest shaded place. The nearest place being Mab's shadow.

'_I'm gonna need a shower after this. Can you even wash your shadow if it's solid-ish?_' I thought as I settled in.

And suddenly, I learned Mab's story.

_**Mab's is gonna be a fun story to tell. *Shudders***_

_**Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed that. On a separate note, I've only got a few PM's since last chapter, and that simply will not do. I wanna have fun with this, guys! Think of something!**_

_**And don't forget to slap those follow and favorite buttons like someone just told you that Teen Titans Go is better than the original.**_

_**Also, review. See you wonderful peeps next week!**_


	20. I'm a trap

**_So, we begin to get into the thick of things! You guys must be wondering what kind majestic childhood Mab had, so I'll be quick._**

**_This is technically the 20th chapter of this fic, so HAPPY DAY! As a celebration, I'm going to give you guys a hint about a plot twist coming in the future chapters at the end A/N. If you don't want to see it, just skip over it. It will be the very last line._**

Ch. 18: I'm a trap

_**Darce:**_

_At first her life was normal._

_Her parents were both english professors at a small university, her mother specialized in religious documents and interpretations while her father focused more on poetry and the poets that wrote them. When Lily was born, their father caved into their mother's suggestions to name her Lily, to symbolize the purity of her soul. When she was born two years later, their father insisted on naming her Mab, after the queen of the fairies. She grew to love being named after a queen, it made her feel like one._

_After she entered kindergarten, she realized that nobody was really paying attention to her, and that just wouldn't do. She spent the rest of the year making friends with as many people as possible, and anyone that refused was branded a loser and was ostracized. When someone tried to mess with her, she arranged to have someone else deal with them in the form of swirlies or things like that. Her ego was only matched by her looks and intelligence, making her a force to be reckoned with. As she progressed through middle school, her influence only grew. She wasn't just one of the popular girls, she was __**the**_ _popular girl._

_When high school came she immediately worked to assert herself as the queen of the school. At first it was just the freshmen that followed her, with everyone else ignoring her. Mab hated to be ignored._

_No one ignores the queen of the fairies._

_By sophomore year, they learned. Even the seniors knew not to mess with her. Then along came Ella._

_Mab would always remember her fondly. Ella did nothing wrong, she knew to keep her distance from Mab. Ella had a penchant for dark clothes and make-up. She had no friends or groups she hung out with, and Mab learned later that she was clinically depressed. Mab wasn't sure why, but one day she sought Ella out to tell her how awful she looked that day. Then she did it again the next day. And the next._

_Until one day Ella didn't come to school. Or the next. But on the third day it was announced that Ella had killed herself. This caused a weird feeling to stir through Mab. She decided to go to her funeral, wearing a black veil to disguise herself. A crying mother read her suicide note, saying in no uncertain terms that Mab was the reason she'd decided to end it all._

_Mab knew she should feel something like guilt, sadness, or regret. But she felt none of that, only a rush. She felt downright proud of herself for getting away with murder._

_She wanted to do it again…_

I yanked myself away, as I did I caught glimpses of the rest of her story. If I had a stomach or a mouth, I would be vomiting. She'd claimed at least three other victims, two of which were much more direct. Their bodies were never found. I completely forgot about the others in the room, I wasn't running away from them anymore. I was running from Mab's shadow, and her horrifying tale. I don't know how, but I ended up back inside my head with Dream at my side.

"What happened?!" He demanded.

I couldn't answer, now that I had some semblance of a body I was busy puking my guts out.

She'd gotten better after each kill. After Ella, she got some innocent boy to hang himself. Then She'd decided that killing with words, while impressive, was no fun, so she took a walk with a kitchen knife.

I saw, through her eyes, the bodies when she was done with them. But the worst part was feeling what she felt as she admired her "Work". She didn't kill quick either. No, she dragged it out as long as possible. She got off on their helpless expressions and pitiful cries. And what she did with their eyes….

I couldn't stop thinking about what I'd seen, and it was too much.

Somehow, inside a my own head, I passed out.

_**Gray:**_

I walked to the lunch table that I always sit at with teams RWBY, JNPR, and what was left of my team. I immediately noticed that team JNPR was absent, and everyone else was looking at me expectantly. I glared at Yang.

"I only told them a heavily censored version of it." She raised her hands defensively.

"So, what did they say?" Ruby asked.

"I have to do the exchange tomorrow night in some abandoned theater. No cops, no friends, yada yada." I explained disinterestedly.

"It's a trap." Blake said bluntly.

"Of course it is, but what choice do we have?" I demanded.

"If we can figure out Darce's gun, then maybe we can at least figure out their location." Murphy supplied.

"How do you know that's what it'll do?" Weiss asked.

"Because why else would he leave it? It's the only logical function it could serve in rescuing him. Thanks a bunch for telling us, by the way, Gray. You're a real pal." The last bit Murphy said with mock kindness, but it was obvious he was hurt by my silence.

"To be entirely honest, you guys are more like roommates than teammates."

"Still, Darce is our friend too." Aries said edgely. Murphy quickly shot a comforting hand to Aries' back.

I'd noticed early on how those two acted around each other. Murphy always treated Aries like a ticking time bomb, which I found ridiculous because Aries was right on Ren's level in terms of cool headedness. However, Aries treated Murphy like a lit match and tried desperately to stop him from gleefully lighting everything in his path on fire. _That_ made a bit more sense, Murphy always has a weird look in his eyes that set me on edge. I couldn't bring myself entirely to trust him. It made me wonder how Aries could.

"Moving on," Weiss chimed in, breaking me away from my thoughts, "We can't just let you go in willy nilly. We need some kind of advantage. Luckily, this delay allows us some time for thought on our next move."

"What are they exchanging Darce for?" Blake asked. I suddenly realized they had no idea about Sosai. Yang and I shared a glance, silently agreeing to leave that bit out.

"They want me to agree not to share information I have that could cripple them." I said in half-truth.

"Why would the White Fang want Darce anyway?" Ruby asked.

"We'll just have to ask him, won't we?" Weiss replied, "Or perhaps Gray could ask in his next dream if Darce isn't feeling especially cryptic tonight."

"I'll see what I can do."

_**Later that night, the dream:**_

"Well, this is different." Yang commented at the white room we all found ourselves in.

All of team RWBY was with me, and they were deeply confused as to why this dream felt so different.

"What is this?" Weiss questioned.

"Yeah, I was in a field of chocolate covered strawberries!" Ruby complained. Yang chuckled.

"Really? I was pulled in the moment I got to sleep. What were the rest of you dreaming of?" I asked. Yang's smile immediately vanished.

"That's private." She said guardedly.

I gave her a look of mock approval. '_That totally means wet dream, though._'

"I was also pulled in before I could dream." Blake added. I could never tell if she was lying or not, so I didn't even try.

"Me too." Weiss sad. _That_ was the truth, judging by her annoyed expression.

"Well, now that you're all settled in, hello." Said a voice on the other side of the room.

We turned to see a miniature, glowing green version of Darce. The real Darce was just behind him, and unconscious. We all rushed to him in worry.

"What did you do to him!?" I yelled at the small copy of my brother. He made no physical reaction.

"I did nothing, Darce passed out due to psychological trauma sustained during an experiment with his secondary semblance. The added stress of decarnation only worsened it. He remains unconscious because something is holding him there." He answered coolly.

"What's de-...never mind, doesn't matter. What are you?" I questioned. The others were moving Darce to a more comfortable and accessible area in the room.

"I am Dream, a construct of Darce's subconscious mind. I take a form reminiscent of Delta from Red Vs. Blue for your comfort. My usual form can be… offputting for those unfamiliar with me."

"Will he recover?" Blake asked.

"Yes," Dream replied, "he should be waking up at any moment. For now, he's attempting to wake up from a forced dream. Lily Clementine has been secretly forcing something malevolent into his aura, and the trauma may have made it worse. He may not be in his right mind."

"Well, shit." I cursed.

"Indeed." Weiss concurred, giving us a rare moment of agreement.

"Wait, he's waking up!" Yang cried as Darce began to stir. I rushed over to him.

"Darce! Darce! Are you alright?!" I practically shouted at him. He opened his eyes and groggily looked up at me. a part of me noticed that they no longer looked burnt, but the rest of me was too worried to care.

"Gray, when'd ya get so tahll?" he asked me drunkenly, "Ya uz ta be so short."

"Darce, this isn't the time for that, snap out of it!" Weiss scolded. Darce simply put his hands over his ears.

"Why'z ev'ryone mumblin' so loud?" he complained.

"Darce, we need to know where you are." Blake said soothingly, putting a hand on his shoulder.

He looked at her and immediately got a huge goofy grin on his face.

"Hiya, Blake." He slurred. I didn't know whether to sigh or laugh.

"Not the time, ladykiller." Yang interrupted his cheese fest and spun him around to face her, "Alright, now, you left Gray a gun, riiiight?" Yang asked slowly.

"Yeah." He said, confused.

"And that gun had something in it, riiight?" She continued. He thought for a moment.

"Yeah, the tracker! For if I lose my shit!" He realized. All the thinking was starting to take the slur from his voice.

"Alright, good. Now how do we get it?" She pressed. He looked like he was trying to remember, but couldn't.

"I had a hint...what was it? The silence… the silence….risky?"

Suddenly,the room began to tremble.

"What's that?" Asked Ruby.

"I realize you need more time, but Darce is being shook awake. We will see you soon." Dream spoke up as the shaking became more violent.

And I jolted awake.

_**Lunch time, in the cafeteria:**_

"The silence risky?" Blake asked as she looked over Darce's pistol.

"In his defence, he seemed pretty out of it." I commented.

"Even so, it must mean _something_." Weiss said irritatedly.

"Your guess is as good as mine at this point." I conceded.

Blake set Aut down, leaned back in her chair, and closed her eyes in thought.

"The silence risky, the silence risky, the silence risky…" She whisper/chanted to herself, as if willing the words to make sense.

I was about to call it quits when a sudden thought struck me.

"Hey, guys, Darce _did_ seem pretty trashed when we saw him, right?"

"Yeah, so?" Yang asked.

"So, he was slurring a lot, right?"

"Yes, but I don't-... oooohhhh." Blake suddenly saw where I was going with this. I could see a similar realization reach Weiss and Yang.

"What?" Ruby was still not seeing it.

"What if he didn't say 'The silence risky'? Maybe he just said something that sounds like that!"

"Thesilencerisky, thesilencerisky, thesilenceriskey…" Blake's chanting became much more focused now. Suddenly Ruby jumped.

"THE SILENCER IS KEY!" She exclaimed.

She quickly unscrewed the silencer from Aut and examined it thoroughly. She cried out when she noticed that there was an actual screw out of place she hadn't saw the first time she searched it.

"DAMMIT RUBY!" Ruby cursed herself. I think that was the first time I ever heard Ruby cuss, and judging by their expressions, everyone else was thinking the same thought. Hell, with all the noise she was making, the whole cafeteria was thinking that same thought.

A small and incredibly thin metal strip came out of the outer end of the silencer.

"That certainly looks like a key, but where does it go." Ruby mumbled to herself.

Quite frankly, it was so thin it could fit anywhere. Ruby decided to try the most obvious places and struck gold in the butt of the gun. The grip folded in on itself to reveal a small screen as the rest of the gun shifted into what looked like some weird hand-held the screen it had two buttons:

_Admin_

_Guest_

"Here, let me see it." I took the mirror-thing from Ruby and pressed _Admin_.

_Password:_

_Password:_

_Password:_

_Hint(s)?_

Who puts three passwords on one thing? Answer: My brother. The hint to the first one was "_How many duties was General Lord George Glossop relieved of?"_. What kind of dick move was that? So I just clicked back and selected _Guest_ instead.

_First Name:_

I briefly wondered if inputting a different name would make any difference, but decided not to chance it.

_First Name: Gray_

_..._

_Accepted_

_Password:_

_Hint?_

I clicked _Hint_.

"_What is it all about?"_

I really had no idea what it could be, but knowing Darce, it would be a reference to something.

"Um… the hokey-pokey?"

_EEEE!_ It buzzed.

"Wait a minute…" Suddenly I knew what it was, because my brother's just that kind of dick, "Darce, I swear by everything that is holy and most of the things that aren't, if you made my password what I think you did I will kill you after we save you." I growled at the mirror-thing, ignoring the questioning looks of my friends.

_Password: That Bass_

…

_Accepted_

"There is a special place in hell for people like you. That song is the bane of my existence and you know it." I death stared at the mirror a bit longer before actually looking at the screen. Again, there were two buttons:

_GPS_

_Personal Video Logs_

I immediately chose the videos and was shown a long list of what was essentially Darce's video diary. I clicked on the first one. An image of Darce popped up. It was back when his hair was a light brown, before it turned black.

"_So, I've decided to document my time at the prestigious Beacon Academy. I'll try and get an entry in once a day, or when I feel an extra one is necessary. The extra ones will be put in a separate folder with admin only permission. I put in a guest feature so someone else could see all of the important stuff if….well, Hunters don't have the longest life expectancy. Anyway, Day 1! Today I got a team! I was partnered with my brother, Gray, and my to other teammates are Murphy Xanth Machina, our leader, and Aries Anemone. They seem like nice people. That's all there is to report, really. Bye for now."_

_End Of Log_

"Is it just me," Blake spoke up, "Or has Darce…"

"Changed since we first knew him? Yeah, but we all have. That's just a part of life."Yang said comfortingly.

"Let's just...check the GPS." Ruby said in a kind of sad tone.

I pulled up his current location.

"He's in the southeast, like you said." I noted.

We wrote down the coordinates and continued eating in silence. Then a sudden thought had me bursting with laughter.

"What's so funny?" Ruby asked.

"Darce's diary... _is also a gun!_" I managed to get out before falling to the floor, crippled by my mirth.

A smile curled their lips as they saw the humor in that.

At least I could still make things better...

_**Well, that's all for now. Don't forget to follow, fav, review, and PM those questions for me. See ya awesome readers next week!**_

_**The Traveler that brought Darce and Gray to Remnant is the same one that saved Darce's life in the docks. He's appeared in the last couple of chapters now. Take that as you will.**_


	21. I never

_**I almost didn't get this done in time, guys. I was seriously getting up early (Which I never do) and going through this chapter over and over because my editor is an ass and decided to abandon me in my hour of need.**_

_**On a separate note, my birthday is just a bit more than a month away! I think I'll do a small extra chapter to celebrate, but until then; enjoy.**_

Ch. 19: I never

_**Darce, an hour ago:**_

I jolted awake.

I was sitting at a desk with a laptop showing the end credits to an episode of RWBY, the headphones wrapped snugly to my head were playing the gentle tunes of the outro. I sat up and stretched the kinks out of my back while taking off my headphones and yawned.

I felt….wrong. Like everything was dim and far away. I looked over to Gray, who was pounding at his controller with a look of concentration aimed at his Call of Duty game.

"Morning, sleeping ugly." He said without so much as looking at me, "You've been out for nearly an hour now. Mom's almost got dinner done, and I was starting to think I'd have to wake you. I get that, with the tests and all, you're a bit tired, but sleeping in the middle of your crappy show? That's just poor form."

"Yeah, I guess so." I mumbled, rubbing my head.

Immediately I froze. There was something wrong with my head, something missing.

"My ears…" I whispered, "Where are my ears?!"

Now Gray was sending me a curious and amused look.

"I think you're still half-asleep, bro. Your ears are where they always are, the sides. You're looking on the top." He chuckled.

"No," I said, confused, "No, you're wrong. They should be…."

'_Wait, what am I thinking? Why would my ears be on the top of my head? I must be watching too much RWBY, thinking I'm a...that I'm a faunus._' I shook my head to clear it. The feeling of wrongness wasn't going away. As a nervous habit, I wrapped my tail around my leg. It was another shock to my system when nothing happened.

'_Of course nothing happened, you don't have a tail._' I scolded myself.

"You okay?" Gray asked, concern and caution coloring his voice.

"No." I repeated with more determination, "This is wrong."

"What's wrong?" He asked. There was too much caution there.

A sudden clarity burst through my mind.

'_Mad Mab, Lily, Cinder….my semblance, my sword, my brother the wolf….Gray, Blake.…_'

"You say I was asleep for nearly an hour, but RWBY episodes are only a quarter of that time _maximum_. It was the middle of winter break when we were taken, there are no tests. And I would _never_ fallen asleep in the middle of a RWBY episode. Three strikes, now tell me what the fuck is going on." I said hastily.

The fake Gray said nothing, only stared blankly at me.

"Whoever you are, you'd better have a good reason to hold me to this...this awful fake."

"Do you really want to leave?" It asked flatly.

"Of course I do, my friends need me!"

"You don't actually believe that, do you?" It raised an eyebrow, "Do you really think any of them need or want you?" I raised an eyebrow back.

"I've seen this scene in too many movies and books to fall for this. You want me to wallow in some self-pity party while my friends and remaining family need my help."

"Oh, come on Darce, I'm a part of you. That means I know all the times you've seen this, but it also means I know the thoughts you hide from even yourself."

"Do tell." I said sarcastically.

"You know Gray secretly hates you, Ruby's too nice to tell you to fuck off, Yang only likes to hang out with Gray and just tolerates you, you don't even really talk with any of your other teammates, Weiss is actively hostile to you, and if Blake felt even a fraction of what you feel for her she would have acted on it by now." Faux-Gray listed. I blinked.

"Okay, where the fuck did all that come from?" I said, surprised by the speed and length of its list.

"First off, Gray hates you because you're solely responsible for dragging him to Remnant with you, taking him away from his friends and family because of your selfish desire to be anywhere other than reality."

"That's not-"

"Secondly, Would Ruby tell _anyone_ to leave her alone?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Has Yang ever sought out your company unless Gray was right next to you?"

"That's because-"

"Murphy and Aries probably wouldn't care if you died."

"You can't know-"

"I don't think I even _need_ to explain Weiss."

"Not really, but that's-

"And finally, Blake doesn't care for you, and is probably creeped out by the fact that you hang around her so much."

And that was the last straw. The ground around me rippled and black tendrils lashed out at the fake Gray and slammed him against a wall.

"Alright, you little shit, I really can't decide if you're a construct of my mind like Dream or some side effect of whatever Lily's been doing to me. You seem to know so much yet so little at the same time."

I picked him up and slammed him against the wall again.

"Let me educate you on how my friends work. When Gray hates someone, he never _ever_ hides it. Let Cardin be an example. Ruby _has_ sought out my company and my advice on certain matters, and the reason that Yang, or anyone really, hasn't talked to me without Gray right there is because Gray and I are together _all of the fucking time_. Weiss is hostile to _everyone_, and if Blake was creeped out by me she would let me know. I will, however, give you Aries and Murphy. I don't really hang out with them a lot outside of classes and training."

The thing pretending to be my brother stared blankly at me for a moment before getting a wide grin and softly laughing. The laugh wasn't in Gray's voice, it sounded almost female.

"Well, I guess there's no sense in hiding anymore." This time its voice was definitely that of a woman's.

The room evaporated around me, leaving nothing but darkness. It was the kind of dark that didn't come from a lack of light, it was more like the background was just black. It reminded me of the "undeveloped dreamscape" that I had been locked in ever since I lost my body.

"It's very similar, yes, but not quite the same." Said a voice behind me.

I quickly spun around and saw a woman the appeared to be made out of light, yet was shrouded in ever-shifting darkness. Her long hair and business suit seemed to be made of shadows, and most of her facial features were almost completely obscured by it, but her skin was a glowing white. I remember Gray's description of the Glowing Guy, but he was, well, a _guy_.

"Who are you supposed to be?" I demanded.

"I've gone by _so_ many names, but my latest one is Nox." She replied, amused.

The way she talked and moved reminded me of Cinder, like everything and everyone was so beneath her.

"Mab and Lily talked about you, you're like that guy who saved me back at the docks."

"What, Lumen? Oh, he has been quite the naughty boy lately, hasn't he? But I suppose I'm no better." She muttered distractedly.

"What do you mean?"

"What _do_ I mean, I wonder?" She said cryptically, her barely visible mouth curling into a cheshire-cat smirk.

"Why does it seem that both of you guys have a penchant for never really answering important questions?"

"Well, where would be the fun in that? But, it's of no consequence now. I think I've sized you up enough for now, so I'll send you back. fair warning, though: You'll be quite… _dizzy_."

"What's that suppose to-" I started, but was interrupted by an unexpected rush going through my head.

My vision faded, and my mind was suddenly drowned by what felt like some thick syrup. My thoughts became slow and groggy.

'_Dizzy...my...ass! This...feels...like my...mind...is...going through a….tornado!_'

I opened my eyes and saw team RWBY huddled around me, and Gray towering over them. He was shouting something at me, but I couldn't quite piece it together. It was like I could hear the individual words he was saying, but I couldn't connect them into a sentence. He may as well have been mumbling really loud, for all I could make out. I did notice, however, how Gray stood above everyone like a cloud on a clear day.

I tried to ask him about it, but the words jumbled in my mouth. Weiss got that look on her face and yelled something at me, but again the words became just a loud mumble in my ears. Like, _really_ loud. Didn't she know that my faunus ears are sensitive? I used my hands to muffle my ears against the offending noise, and tried to articulate my struggle into words. I heard a softer mumble and turned to see Blake.

I could feel how corny my smile was, but it was plastered over my face anyway.

"Hiya, Blake." I managed.

Yang mumbled something in a tone that was both amused and annoyed, and turned my head to face her. She looked like she was saying something important, so I tried to listen.

"...Left Gray a gun, riiiight?" She asked.

'_Does she mean Aut?_'

"Yeah." I answered

"...Gun...something in it…?"

'_Something in my gun?...OH! That's right!_'

"Yeah, the tracker! For if I lose my shit!" I declared. The fog was starting to lift from my mind.

"Alright...how...get it?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but I realized I couldn't remember. I looked around in my head and felt like it was at the tip of my tongue.

"I had a hint...what was it? The silence… the silence….risky?"

As the last word left my mouth, a sudden pressure clenched my shoulders and the room shook. Someone gave confused noises that might've been words.

And then we woke up.

_**Mab, Present:**_

I gently lead Amnesiac!Darce by the arm to the room Lily would be waiting in.

"Where are we going?" He asked, his brows furrowed in an adorably puzzled expression.

"Lily thinks she can restore some of your memories." I lied easily, giving him my best reassuring smile.

"Really?!" He asked excitedly.

I nodded happily and continued leading him to the room, which was just down the hall now. In actuality, Lily thought that she might be able to give him false memories. She couldn't go into too much detail, but it would be enough to keep him on our side, as well as give him a name. A name that I thought quite fitting for the role he would be playing for the rest of his life, if I had my way. I _always_ get my way in the end. We came upon the door and I knocked firmly.

"It's ready, come in." My sister's voice croaked from within.

I quickly opened the door and pushed Darce through.

"Uuum, what's the metal table for? And why does it have straps?" He asked nervously.

"It's to stop you from hurting yourself. We haven't done anything like this before, so we're trying to be as safe as possible." I replied honestly.

"Uh, okay. Will this hurt?" He continued.

Lily shrugged and gave a noncommittal grunt. I shot her a look that screamed, '_We need him relaxed!_'. She rolled her eyes, but played along.

"It's just a bit of brain-digging, it shouldn't hurt at all. Now strap in."

"Well, if you say so." He looked at me for reassurance, and I gave it.

"We do." I said gently, but inside I was growing impatient, '_hurry the fuck up!_'

He lay down onto the table and we secured the restraints around him. He looked like he wanted to say something, but Lily silenced him by just getting on with it. She held onto the sides of his head, and darkness poured out of her hands and into his eyes and ears. He yelped in surprise and began to struggle a bit, but the straps did their job well and stopped him from doing anything. After about ten minutes of this, Lily stopped and stepped back. Darce panted for a bit before opening his eyes, showing that his pupils were so wide, that you almost couldn't see his irises.

"So, can you finally remember your name?" I asked after a moment of silence.

"Yes."

The shadows of the room seemed to pool at his feet.

"My name…."

In a flash of black, he stood upright, his restraints in taters on the floor.

"Is Puck."

A wide smile curled my lips.

"Welcome aboard." I replied giddily.

He gave us a wide smile before giving Lily a mock angry look.

"Oh, and you lied: That was excruciating."

_**And that's that, I suppose. Tell me how you felt about this chapter by leaving a review, don't forget hit those follow and fav buttons, and, most of all, send some questions my way in a PM. We still have nine days until I post the answers, so get crack'n.**_

_**See you lovely folks next week!**_


	22. Not quite right

_**Hello, boys and girls and other of all ages! Now this one was very nearly not done, but I have reigned victorious over unnecessary things like sleeping and bathing.**_

_**With that said, please enjoy.**_

Ch. 20: Not quite right

_**Puck, the afternoon before the exchange:**_

The memories of my life were still vague, more feelings, desires, and impressions than anything solid, but at least they were there. I think I grew up in a small town, in another dimension, and that my real name was Robin Goodfellow, but for some reason everyone calls me Puck. I liked it, it stuck. I determined early in life that everyone was either a leader or a follower. I was no good at leading, but if I was going to be a follower, it'd be to a damned good leader. Mab is a leader, I could see it in her eyes. And not just any leader, her eyes told me she deserved to be a queen.

We were having lunch and discussing how I was going to kidnap a student at Beacon, and why.

"We've been able to determine that you are actually from a dimension called Earth." Mab began.

'_Earth...sounds right._' I thought silently to myself.

"We are to. This is special because people from there have extraordinary combat capabilities and multiple semblances." Lily added in her growling monotone that seemed to define her.

"All people from Earth that have come to Remnant, that we are aware of, have joined our cause, with only one exception." Mab said in a much more serious voice then I was used to.

"Who?" I asked.

"The Wolf. He's a student at Beacon, which is a corrupt academy that trains children to become glorified killing machines."

"Yikes." I said in surprise, "And I'm supposed to just waltz in there?"

"No," Mab said with a mischievous grin on her face, "You're supposed to be dragged in there."

"What?"

"The reason the Wolf isn't on our side is because Beacon got to him first, after he crossed over. They've brainwashed him into believing their way is the right way. We're going to knock you out, and when the exchange takes place, we'll say you've been asleep for the whole time we've had you. They'll think they can brainwash you too, and they'll probably pretend you've been a student since the beginning of the school year." Lily said.

"They'll probably go for the full package: Fake name, family, medical history, social security number… you get the point. This is why we needed to unlock your memories, so you would know right from wrong well enough to not get confused." Mab added

"Once you wake up, you need to grab the Wolf, incapacitate him, and bring him back here. Think you can do it?" Lily finished.

"How am I supposed to do that if this guy is a skilled killer?"

"We think you are too. We found these on you when we found you in the field." Mab pulled out a pair of gloves.

Immediately I felt an attachment to them, like they were a part of me. I quickly snatched them from her hands and put them on. Instinctively, I flared my aura and found metal claws spring out of my fingertips, electricity crackling and sparking from them.

"These'll do." I said giddily.

_**Darce:**_

"Oh...that's not good…" Dream said with a worried tone.

"He's going to kidnap Gray." I said defeatedly, then I perked up in fear, "I need to warn him."

"No. Well, yes, you should warn him, but that's not what worries me."

"Well, then what?"

"Apparently, your very soul is locked away with you. Which means that this "Puck" shouldn't even exist, yet he does. And that can only mean…"

"What?" I pleaded after he trailed off.

"He has his own soul, and therefore his own aura and semblance. A side effect of this being...you will be stuck in here even after the seal breaks."

There was a long silence as I digested the fact that I may never have a physical body ever again.

"Oh…._ffffffuuuuuucccccck_." I finally said.

He just silently let me fume for a while.

"Is there anything I can do to get him out?!" I asked desperately.

"I'll look, but I don't know. For now, you should rest. Whatever's happening is taking a lot out of you." With that, he vanished.

_**Gray:**_

"So, we're clear on the plan?" Weiss asked.

I rolled my eyes.

"It isn't much of a plan, more of a 'don't fuck up and/or get killed.'" I quipped.

"Language!" Weiss chastised.

"English, Schnee. Pay attention." I snapped back, rolling my eyes again.

She glared at me, then at Yang, who was chuckling to herself on the other side of the room.

"What? It's funny seeing you two go back and forth." She said defensively, not really helping her cause.

Weiss gave an exasperated groan, threw her hands up, and walked to the opposite side of the room.

"I'm surrounded by idiots." She muttered to herself.

"Hey!" Ruby complained, sending Weiss her most adorable pout.

Weiss buckled almost immediately under the weight of Ruby's cuteness, and made a noise that could be taken as apologetic, but made sure not to look Ruby straight in the eyes. She knew better, we all did.

"Anyway, we should get Darce back quickly. Pyrrha has a match set up with Cardin's whole team, and I'm sure he wants to see that." I commented. Blake looked at her scroll's clock.

"It's almost time. We should get moving." Her voice seemed a bit more dull than usual, and I noticed bags starting to form under her eyes.

"Blake, are you getting enough sleep?" I asked. She nodded.

"I'm fine."

'_No, that translates to: There's something wrong, but I don't want to talk about it._'

"Alright, then. Let's go." I said outloud.

_**Later, at the abandoned 'Downtown Playhouse':**_

Yang parked outside the broken down theatre.

"Okay, here we are. Be safe, alright?"

"I'll be fine, Yang." I said, hopping off the back.

"The rest of us will be camping out on a nearby rooftop. Call at the first sign of trouble."

"Sure thing."

I walked into the building, which seemed even older in the inside. My steps reverberated against the walls, and every tiny sound was amplified to almost deafening levels. When I finally got to the main auditorium, I saw Mab in center stage wearing an angel outfit.

"Hello there, Gray. How have you been?"

"Pissed off, primarily at you." I growled. She pouted at me, which might've been cute if I didn't have a compelling urge to punch her in the face.

"That's not fair, Gray! It's not like I wanted to kidnap your brother, it just happened!"

"I really don't care. where's Darce?" I demanded. She sighed.

"He's over here." She gestured at the curtain behind her, which began to part.

It revealed Darce, knocked out and tied up. Behind him was Lily, who was watching over his body with a detached interest.

"Now, I take it you have Emerald somewhere nearby?" Mab finished.

'_Emerald? That must be Sosai's real name._' I pulled out my scroll.

"She's safe and under the watch of a close friend, who will either free or kill her, depending on how this goes down." I said flatly. The sisters' eyebrows went up in surprise. "Oh, don't give me that. If I brought her here, what's to stop you from just kidnapping or even killing me? I'm not an idiot. If I don't call within the next ten minutes, she dies. If something happens here that I don't like, she dies. She dies if pretty much _anything_ happens other than me and my brother walking out of here unharmed, understood?"

They nodded.

"Good. Now hand him over."

Lily picked Darce up and threw him at me. I caught him and walked away silently.

_**Beacon, medical ward:**_

"He should be fine, he was just tranquilized. He'll wake up any minute now." The doctor reassured us.

I took Darce here first thing so they could look him over for anything that the goons of the White Fang had forced into his system. Dream had said they were, but the doctors couldn't find anything, and that worried me even more. Like knowing there was a huge spider in the room, but not being able to see it.

Ruby and Weiss had left to get snacks, and Yang was off releasing Sos- er, Emerald. It was just Blake and me standing over Darce. A long silence had formed around us, and I decided to break it.

"He want's to ask you to the dance, you know." I said offhandedly. She blinked at me.

"What?"

"Darce. He wants to ask you out to the dance this weekend, but he doesn't quite know how."

"He said that?" She asked, looking back at Darce's sleeping body.

"No, at least, not to me. I learned it from his gun. When I held it in my hands, trying to figure out how to work it, I felt compelled to talk to you and I got visions of dancing and tuxedos and bowties. That shouldn't really surprise you, it's not like he was really discreet about his crush on you." I replied.

"I know," She sighed, "And I know I haven't done much to discourage it, but I'm just not sure I feel the same way."

"Then you should probably tell him instead of letting him think there's something there that isn't. My brother's a big boy, he can handle it." I said simply. It would hurt him, but he'd get over it. Blake sighed again and put her head in her hands.

"But that's just it, I don't know. I feel _something_ for Darce, but I just _don't know what it is!_"

I opened my mouth to further question her, but just then Yang walked in.

"Don't know what what is?" She asked. I shook my head.

"Nothing. Where's R-"

"I GOT COOKIES!" Ruby shouted and charged into the room with an exasperated Weiss behind her.

"Ah, there she is." I finished.

"Ruby, not so loud!" Weiss scolded.

"Yeah, Rubes! Darce'll...Oh god, he's waking up!" Yang shouted.

It was true, Darce's eyes fluttered and began to sleepily open. He sat up and looked around at all of us. I immediately noticed how tense he became, looking around at us, but everyone else seemed oblivious.

"Darce, you're awake!" Ruby cried and crushed him in a bear hug. He became even more tense at the close contact.

Something was off. His eyes seemed wrong for some reason I couldn't quite identify.

"Hello, there." He said awkwardly, as if he'd never met Ruby before.

Then I saw it. His shadow was flailing its arms, trying to get our attention. When it saw it had mine, it seemed to tap its forehead and point to its left twice.

Trusting my instincts, I quickly tried to punch the person pretending to be my brother in the face. The imposter somehow saw it coming and caught my fist, then turned my arm so my elbow was pointed down and used his other arm to force my arm up. This had the effect of bending my arm a near perfect ninety degrees..._in the wrong fucking direction._ Before the pain could invade my mind, I reared up my other fist and succeeded in knocking him out.

Then the pain reached me and I screamed like a little girl and fell to the floor.

"What the hell was that about!" Yang demanded while popping my arm back into place.

"He was a fake." I groaned.

"Yeah? And how did you know?!" Weiss yelled. I pointed to the shadow.

"Darce knows sign language and taught me a little. The shadow was signing 'Fake.'"

They all blinked at that, and looked at the shadow, who nodded and repeated the action.

"Well...that's a new one. First dreams, and now shadows?" Blake asked.

The shadow shrugged and signed something else. They all turned to me for a translation.

"He said something along the lines of 'I've stopped asking questions, I turn with it.'" I said.

Darce made a 'no' motion and repeated a few signs.

"Oh, he said 'I just roll with it'. I'm not the best student of sign language, I guess."

"Regardless, Why is Darce a shadow of his own body, and why is the current inhabitant trying to infiltrate the school?" Weiss pondered.

"Those are some very good questions. Allow me to answer them." Said a familiar voice from behind us.

**_And that's all for today. Remember to follow, favorite, and _**_**review.**_

_**The questions will be answered on Friday, so you guys have until midnight of tomorrow to submit anything.**_

_**See you next week!**_


	23. We answer questions

Interlude: We answer questions

**Darce: **Hello my wonderful readers! As you can see, we'll be doing thing a little differently for this chapter. I won't be talking to you as rwbyfan5, but as my character, Darce. And my broth-

**Gray: **[Crashes through door and stomps towards computer] Alright, you little shits! Enough talk, let's just get this over with!

**Darce:** [sighs exasperatedly] Sorry, he doesn't really like doing much with the story other than editing. Anyway, our first five questions come from Mr. Wither.

**Gray:** Five?

**Darce:** Yeah, and I'm told he did it in the middle of math class. It's called being awesome.

**Gray:** [Rolls eyes] Whatever, just get to the questions.

**Darce:** Alright, first up:

_**Since it was said earlier, that your brother wasn't a fan of the show, would he rather live on earth or in the rwby universe?**_

**Darce:** Well, I think Gray is best to answer this. Which _do_ you prefer?

**Gray:** To clarify, I hate the web series because the graphics are so bad, they literally give me a headache. The world itself seems pretty cool, and the weapons are fucking awesome. So, I'd have to say the rwby universe.

**Darce: **I actually asked Gray when I was writing the scene where I get sucked into my laptop what he would do. I was fully prepared to write the story without him. But he surprised my by saying he'd hop right in, and you're looking at the result. Next question:

_**Are the characters of Mab and Lily based off of others, like you and your brother?**_

**Darce:** Actually, yes and no. I was playing around with the idea of having two people that are opposites of our characters when Mab and Lily were created. So, in a way, they're based off of us as much as our characters are. Mab is my opposite because she's sexually promiscuous, where as I couldn't hit on a girl if my life depended on it IRL. She's a murderous sociopath, where as I'm a harmless psychopath. But I also liked the idea of her sharing similarities, like our mutual love of literature.

**Gray:** With Lily, she's very callous and has no interest in forming any relationships with anyone, but I can't go anywhere without making friends that I'd die for. She also has basically no personality, While I've got a pretty good one.

**Darce:** They're kinda like parodies of us. Anyway, next:

_**At this point, would Darce be considered a memory? A locked memory within his own mind?**_

**Darce:** Yes, but we can elaborate on that yet. It'll either be explained in the next chapter or the one after. Next:

_**What would be your reaction if very few people reply to your plea to find a response from your audience?**_

**Darce:** Same as last time, extreme disappointment. I only got, like, twelve questions. And five of those are your's. Let's see if we can stretch the answers out a bit, shall we?

_**How was your day?**_

**Gray:** Really? That's your final question?

**Darce:** Well, he did mark it as his most important. Anyway, My day's been good.

**Gray:** Mine too.

**Darce:** Next is from Words and letters:

_**What's Darce's favorite flavour of ice-cream?**_

**Darce:** Cookie dough, food of the gods.

**Gray:** [Rolls eyes] Of course it is. Why does he/she even care?

**Darce:** Actually, this is a question from the first time I tried to do a Q&amp;A. I decided to answer those too. Next is from Blake Tourdner:

_**Who is Darce's LI (love interest)?**_

**Darce:** This question was originally a lot longer, but I shortened it. Anyway, If it isn't painfully obvious, it's Blake.

**Gray:** Because you've got a cat fetish.

**Darce:** I do not! I like her personality!

**Gray:** Sure, whatever you say. Anyway, next question comes from a Guest:

_**Are there going to be any kind of forbidden romances between Darce and Mab, or Gray and Lily?**_

**Darce:** Maybe, Mab does have a crush on one of the Forge brothers.

**Gray:** Fun fact: When I agreed to play a role in the story, it was with the condition that he cannot ship me with _anyone_, because I have a girlfriend IRL. The moment he tries, I'm done as editor.

**Darce:** And I have thus far respected his wishes. Next question is from Whosonfirst:

_**Good stuff so far. My question is: Are you guys really like this in real life?**_

**Darce:** Meh, bits and pieces. I don't really cuss that much in real life.

**Gray:** And I cuss more. My character is actually more tame than I am. The next one is from Yangfromyin:

_**for some reason, I think Grey was rather glad he got to punch out 'Darce' and the possession is pretty much an excuse.**_

**Gray:** I know it's not really a question, but I wanted to respond to it. You are entirely correct, I take every opportunity to punch Darce IRL.

**Darce:**[long silence] Rrrriiiiggghhht, our last question is from Thatguy:

_**I've noticed that a lot of times RWBY OCs have theme songs, does yours?**_

**Darce:** A nice one to leave off on. I've actually put some thought into this one, the list is as follows:

**Darce-** '_**Battle Cry**_' **by Imagine Dragons**

**Gray- '**_**Gonna Go Far, Kid**_' **by The Offspring**

**Puck- '**_**Bad Apple**_' **by Touhou (Rockleetist and Ashestoashesjc version)**

**Lily- '**_**Die Motherfucker Die**_' **by Get Set Go**

**Mab- '**_**Centuries**_' **by Fall Out Boy**

**Murphy- '**_**Fake It**_' **by Seether**

**Aries- '**_**Black Parade**_' **by My Chemical Romance**

**Gray:** And that's all we have, see ya fucks later!

**Darce:** Don't forget to follow, favorite, and review. Have an awesome, beautiful day!


	24. I think I knew you

_**Well, guess what? Apparently, my editor has a "Life" and is too good to give my chapters even a look over anymore, which means our agreement about shipping Gray is null and void. But I'm crueler than that, I going to let YOU guys decide who I ship him with. There's a poll on my profile, go nuts.**_

Ch. 21: I think I knew you

_**Gray, Cafeteria:**_

"And then his face just crashes right through the cement, and I stand up and shout '_The Aristocrats!_'" I said, finishing my story.

Everyone laughed so hard, even Weiss was in tears. Darce, on the other hand, was literally rolling around on the floor clutching his sides. When he finally collected himself enough to get back on his seat, he let out a contented sigh.

"You know, when we wake up, we should really get something real to eat. I'm starving!" Darce said casually.

His words gave us all pause.

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.

"I mean we're all sharing a dream right now." He answered as if commenting on the weather.

We all blinked at him.

"No we're not, we never went to sleep." Yang argued.

"Okay, then where is everyone else?" Darce asked simply.

I quickly looked around. It was true, the cafeteria was completely empty except for us.

"Maybe the bell rang and we were too distracted?" Weiss said, obviously not even believing herself.

"And how did we get here, exactly?" He questioned.

We all opened our mouths to answer, but we found that none of us had one.

There was a moderate pause before I broke it.

"How? Like Yang said, we never went to bed."

"We're actually still in the medical ward, something knocked you all out and somehow forced you into my head." His face scrunched up in confusion, like he was starting to realise what he was saying, "Wait a minute…"

"Why are we here, then? And if you didn't bring us here, who did?" Weiss asked.

"Always have an arsenal of good questions, don't you Ms. Schnee?" Said a voice from behind us.

I quickly spun around and recognised the Glowing Guy.

"You." I said.

"Yeah, Me." He responded calmly.

"Who are you?!" Asked Weiss in surprise of this new comer.

"I've gone by a whole fuckton of names, sweetheart. More recently I've been going by two names, the more important one being Lumen Tenebris. Now, you're all going to be good lil' kids and listen the fuck up while I play plot device and explain what the hell is going on, capisce?"

"Capisco." I replied.

"Cap-ee-sh-go?" Ruby asked, completely lost at this point.

We ignored her for now.

"Alright, as you've all guessed, you're in Darce's head. Well, technically. It's more Puck's head now."

"Puck?" I asked.

"That's what the guy running around with my face is calling himself." Darce answered, and Lumen nodded.

"Anyway, you're more specifically inside Puck's dreamscape. Kinda like how Darce was communicating with you all through Gray's dreams, only reversed. Like before, you're all in a 'Safe room', but Puck is outside. Once you leave, you'll be a part of the dream officially. For now, you have the option to back out."

"Why would we need to back out?" Yang asked. Lumen glared at her.

"Didn't I say to shut the fuck up? Save your questions until the end!" He calmed down and cleared his throat, "Anywho, if you become a part of the dream, your mind will be temporarily connected with it too. That means it's entirely possible for Puck to escape and posses any of your bodies. _**BUT**_, if you go through with this, you'll be basically giving Darce more processing speed. If you stay for long enough, Darce can break the seal and force Puck out. So, if you walk out of those doors, you should immediately start looking for the door that represents your mind. Puck, while in this dream, will be pretty much indestructible, so watch out for him. Any questions?"

Ruby raised her hand.

"What?"

"Where exactly would those be?"

"In a room that Darce's mind thinks is a symbol of you. It will be a door that you feel drawn to."

"Okay, so what will Puck be doing while we're all protecting doors?" Darce asked.

"_You_ won't be protecting anything, you're actually stuck in here with me. I brought a deck of cards to keep us entertained. But Puck'll probably be trying to kill everyone."

"What?!" We all demanded.

"Don't worry, you won't die in real life. In fact, if he does kill you, the link to your mind will be severed and you'll just wake up. But that will cause Darce's 'processing speed' to slow down."

"Alright...I'm in." I sighed. Everyone gave similar affirmatives.

"Well, then, the adventure is right out that door." He pointed towards the door, "Oh, and if You're running away from him, just remember that this is a safe room. By coming in here, you kinda temporarily disconnect, which gets rid of your door. Puck also can't enter here, so that's a plus. Anyway, happy hunting!"

"Good luck, guys." Darce said with a somewhat sad tone.

We walked out and looked around.

"What the-!" Weiss cried out.

I looked to see that her skin was shifting. Come to think of it, _everyone's_ was! All in different ways. Ruby was shrinking, Yang was growing, Weiss seemed to stiffen, and Blake became more fluid. I looked at myself, but couldn't see any noticeable difference.

"What's happening!" Ruby shouted, her voice becoming squeakier.

"I don't know!" Yang shouted back, her voice was taking on a quality I couldn't identify.

When it all stopped, we looked over each other, and I figured out what happened. Ruby had become a chibi version of herself, hovering in mid-air. Weiss had turned into an ice sculpture of herself, with what appeared to be a small figurine of Weiss was in the core of her chest mimicking her movements. I couldn't quite tell what happened to Blake, she just seemed...lighter, like she could float of at any time. Yang's hair was now made out of golden flame, and her muscles seemed much more toned.

"Gah! Why am I flying?! What happened to my fingers?!" Ruby screamed, clinging to Weiss' shoulder.

"...I'm actually okay with this. I look totally badass!" Yang said with a wide grin.

"What even happened to me?" Blake asked.

I looked at her up close, and I noticed that her skin didn't look right. I jerked back when I saw it: She'd been entirely replaced with words. Her skin, her clothes, her hair...everything.

"What's it say?" Asked Yang.

"Let's see." I grabbed a single hair and examined it, "'Her hair is like the night sky, surrounding a beautiful moon-' yeah, I'm not reading this." I dropped the hair in disgust.

Yang laughed uproariously. Blake blushed and looked away.

"We should...just start looking for those doors."

We all agreed and quickly scattered.

_**Blake, third person:**_

Blake ran towards the library as fast as she could. It was the most obvious choice, plus it had a lot of places to hide if worst came to worst. When she found it, she rushed inside and locked the door. She turned around and saw something odd: Darce. Well, Darce_s_. There were at least a dozen Darces running around, organizing, reshelving, etc.

"What are you doing here?" Asked one that was passing by.

All of them stopped suddenly to look at her, except for one reading a book on a table.

"You're not supposed to be here, the library's closed." Another said menacingly.

They started to walk towards her.

"Wait, Darce, what're you-" She pleaded.

They grabbed her roughly by the shoulders just as she noticed a door that was glowing slightly. She cried out and struggled, but there were too many. They opened the door to throw her out, but a loud *_Snap_* made them stop. They turned to see the one reading the book looking at them angrily over a pair of reading glasses.

"Put her down, that's no way to treat a guest!" He chastised.

The clones scrambled to comply and quickly retreated into the vast shelves. Now thoroughly disorientated, Blake cautiously walked toward this apparent "Alpha" Darce.

"Thanks for helping me back there." She said, not sure what else to say.

"No sweat." He said, not even looking away from his book.

"Um, what are you reading?" She asked awkwardly.

He seemed to pause for a moment, thinking it over. While he was silent, Blake noticed something off about this Darce.

'_Why is there something always wrong with someone lately? Particularly Darce?_'

"It's about a boy-" His image flickered, becoming more like the Darce she knew for a brief moment, "With two souls-" another flicker, half of his face turned dark and angry, "Each fighting for control." He flickered back into his normal shape.

Blake finally saw what was off about him, he had no cat ears.

"Darce, are you human?" She asked as calmly as possible.

"Yeah, what else would I be?"

"Uh, I don't know, a faunus?"

"Hmm." He hummed, but was quickly losing interest in the conversation.

Blake decided to see how far she could push this.

"So, is there anyone you like."

"Yeah." He replied distractedly, turning the page.

"Who?" She didn't really know why she was asking, she was pretty sure she knew the answer.

"I'm not sure, but I know that she's dear to me. I keep wanting to tell her something, a secret I think, but I don't know how to tell her. A secret only a few in this world know about. I want her to know, but I'm scared she won't believe me. Even if she does, she probably won't trust me again."

Blake didn't really know how to respond to that.

"Is it really that bad?"

"Probably." He shrugged, and returned his attention to his book.

_**Gray:**_

I went to my team dorm room and threw open the door. Inside I saw that the bathroom door was glowing.

"I don't use the bathroom _that_ often!" I complained.

I heard a similar whine come from team RWBY's dorm. Poking my head out to investigate, I saw Yang facepalming.

"What happened?" I asked.

"My door is my closet. I'm not _that_ obsessed with my wardrobe!" The fire that was now her hair flared a little bit with annoyance.

"What even is in them? I get they're a 'doorway into our minds', but how does it work?" I asked.

Yang thought about this for a bit before shrugging.

"Wanna check it out?" She asked, pointing a thumb back at her dorm room.

"Sure."

We walked over to her closet and she opened it wide. Instead of clothes, it revealed a long hallway with several doors and paintings. All the doors were labeled something like: 'Deepest Fears', 'Happiest Memory', and so on. The door at the very end said in big bold letters "**INNER WORLD**". All the paintings were of Yang in various poses and states of undress. One of them was her completely nude and lying on a bed with a come-hither smile, the only thing covering her 'assets' was her long hair.

"Wow, Yang, I've seen narcissism before, but this takes the cake." I commented.

She gave me an embarrassed smile and scratched the back of her head.

"Oh, come on, Gray, you can't tell me you haven't looked at yourself in the mirror after a shower before."

I rolled my eyes, something I'd been doing a lot of lately.

"Regardless, I'm sure it's not _all_ porn in here. Let's see…" I scanned the door labels around me, "Ah! 'Home Movies'! I'm sure it's just you and Ruby watching movies as kids. I kinda want to see what you were like when you were innocent."

I think she tried to stop me, but the door was too close. I opened it and saw...everyone. Weiss, Blake, team JNPR, all the school staff, Darce, myself, and hundreds of people I didn't recognize. We were all…

Yang slammed the door shut just as I registered what was happening and blocked the door with her back, looking at me fearfully.

"So it _is_ all porn in here." I said, shocked by the scene I'd just witnessed.

"I am a perfectly healthy, developing teenaged girl raging on hormones. We never speak of this." She said grimly.

"Speak of what? We never even went into your door." I replied, already repressing what I saw Darce and I doing to each other.

We were so eager to get out of there, left team RWBY's dorm all together.

"This means I get to see your door." She demanded.

"Fine, I can guarantee you it'll be dull compared to..._that_."

I opened the bathroom door and saw a hallway similar to Yang's, only without the erotica. The paintings mostly about me punching people in the face. Sometimes several people, sometimes several punches. Yang looked at all the doors and, with a wicked smile, opened the one labeled 'Deepest Fears'. Inside was a doctor wearing a surgical mask and wielding a syringe in both hands.

"It's time for your shot, Gray." He said coldly.

My heart immediately started to thud in my chest.

"No. oh, god, no." I took several panicked steps away.

The doctor responded by summoning several ropes out of nowhere that quickly shot towards me.

"Oh, FUCK!" I turned and ran, and when the ropes started to gain on me I used my jets to go faster.

Then I felt my foot snag on something.

_**Yes, Gray has a fear of needles. I gave it to him, long story. Anyway, make sure to follow, favorite, review, and vote on that poll. Later fanatics!**_


	25. I kill some fools

_**Hello, Fanatics, I'm coming at you with a new chapter!**_

_**So, like, only two people have voted so far on the poll on my profile. It's now a tie between two of them, so I need more people to vote! Saying your answer in a PM or review doesn't count, so make sure to vote!**_

Ch. 22: I kill some fools

_**Ruby, Third person:**_

Ruby got use to the whole "hovering" deal surprisingly fast. After some tentative, wobbly trials, she got the hang of it and was off the the weapon's workshop. She noticed that hovering was much faster than walking, and reached her destination quickly. Looking around, she saw that the storage closet that held the best equipment was glowing slightly. She grinned widely.

"Sweet!" She flew towards the door and fistpumped, "Got it in the first try!...Now what do I do?"

Ruby sat there for a bit, but quickly grew bored and decided to pass the time with one of her favorite hobbies: Weapon maintenance. She pulled out Crescent Rose and spun it around until it was in full scythe mode. The change was immediate, suddenly she grew back to her normal height, fingers and all.

"Woah!" She shouted in surprise, "Not that I'm complaining, but why am I suddenly normal?"

She heard footsteps from behind her.

"Probably because you're a lot scarier with that oversized knife-on-a-stick." Said a very tired Weiss carrying a large briefcase.

"Weiss, what are you doing here? And what's with the briefcase? AND DON'T YOU DARE CALL MY SWEETHEART-"

"Well…" Weiss interrupted, "it's a long story…"

_**Weiss, flashback:**_

Weiss finally arrived at her dorm room and looked around. She saw that Yang's closet was wide open, while Gray and Yang were looking around inside. She was about to make her presence known when Gray said something about home movies, opened a door, and the whole room was suddenly filled with lewd noises. Too many noises to just be Gray and Yang doing…._that_.

Not wanting to find out, Weiss instead searched for a door with a glow in it. After only a few moments, she found that the briefcase she kept her dust in was glowing. Knowing immediately that it was her's, she picked it up and left before she could be caught eavesdropping on a maybe-intimate moment. Deciding it would be best to pair up with someone, she went down the list of candidates. Gray and Yang were..._busy_, and Darce was stuck in the cafeteria, which left Ruby and Blake. Blake was no doubt in the library, and Ruby would probably be in the workshop. Her mental map of the school told her that her partner was closer, so she sprinted out of the dorm building and ran.

_**Present:**_

"And I'd rather not waste time telling it. Have you found your door?"

In response, Ruby gestured with her newly acquired thumb towards the closet.

"Yeah, over there. I got bored, so I was thinking of working on Crescent Rose."

"Um, Ruby, you _do_ realize that this is a dream, right? That's not actually your scythe, so anything you do won't translate to real life."

"Oh, that's fine, I work on her all the time in my dreams. It's more to just pass the time."

"I...see." Weiss replied simply.

'_That makes way too much sense._' She thought in her head.

Just as Ruby was about to open her mouth to say something else, there was a loud _crash_ as a shot broke through the window and ricocheted off the wall only a few inches from Weiss' head.

"Holy crap!" Ruby yelled and tackled Weiss to safety behind a worktable.

The announcement speakers crackled to life.

_**Yang:**_

"Gray, I said I was sorry!" Yang apologized to a glowing bathroom door.

Gray gave no response and Yang wondered, not for the first time, if he hadn't gone through one of the many doors inside the one in front of her. After Gray escaped the ropes and beat the living shit out of that nightmare doctor, he'd surprised Yang by picking her up, throwing her out of the door, and locking it behind her. That had been five minutes ago, and he hadn't made a peep since he shouted "GO AWAY" about four minutes ago.

"GGGGGGrrrrrrraaaaaa-" Her pleading was interrupted as the speakers in the hallway began saying something in a voice that almost sounded like Darce's, but...different.

_**Blake:**_

Blake was gently squeezing Darce's bespectacled subconscious for information.

"You watch this web-series a lot?" She asked

"All the time." He said in his usual distracted tone, still not even looking at her.

"And one of the main protagonists is a cat faunus named Blake?"

"Mmhmm."

"What happens to her?"

"Stuff." He replied.

Blake bit her lip in concentration. She noticed in the beginning of the questioning that the more vague the question, the more vague the answer. She needed to be more specific.

"Does she ever get free from her past?"

"Not in the first two seasons."

"What about after?"

"I don't know, I never saw the third season."

"how…" She sighed, deciding to ask one last question, "How would you react if someone you trusted went into your head and learned all your secrets without your consent or knowledge?"

"I'd probably feel really betrayed. Going into someone's head like that is the ultimate breach of trust and privacy."

Blake sighed, starting to feel guilty. The information she'd learned was literally world-changing, but that didn't excuse how she'd obtained it.

She was pondering whether or not to explore the library a bit when the speakers turned on.

_**Darce:**_

"Do you have any nines?"

"Go fish." Lumen said after looking through his hand.

I picked up a card from the deck.

"Got any kings?" He asked.

"Nope, go fish. Do you have any twos? Oh and, while you're at it, I think I've figured something out about you."

"And what would that be?(Yeah, here)"

"You said earlier that you've been going by two names, I think I know who you've been playing as.(Sweet, any threes?)"

He chuckled a bit.

"What gave me away?(Go fish. Eights?)"

"Mostly the eyes, but you really could've done something about your voice, all you did was get rid of that pseudo-chicago accent of yours. I'm surprised none of the others recognized you, especially Gray.(Go fish. Do you have any aces?) Though, I suppose there were a bit distracted."

"Well, they're not the most observant bunch of angsty teenaged protagonists.(You're on fire, kid. Here)"

The speakers above them, making me jump a little.

"Look alive, Sunshine." Puck said in a sinister tone. I immediatly realized what Puck was doing and facepalmed.

"Please tell me he's not-

"109 in the sky, but the pigs won't quit! You're here with me, Dr. Death Implying!"

"He is." Lumen said almost apologetically.

"I'll be your surgeon, your proctor, your helicopter! Pumpin' out the slaughtermatic moves to make you die!" Puck continued.

"He's using my memories to make an awful parody of a good song." I complained as I rubbed my temples.

"A system failure for the masses, anti-matter for the master plan! Louder than God's revolver and twice as shiny. This one's for all you hunters: all you dust-mages, and grim-reaper-wannabes! Listen up!" The speakers went dead.

My eyes widened and a cold chill ran down my spine.

"That's Weiss and Ruby."

_**Gray:**_

"That's Ruby!" I heard Yang cry,"Gray, if you can hear me, I need you to guard my door while I go help Ruby!"

I heard a few footsteps as she ran to her sister's rescue. Just as I was going to open my door and leave, my scroll buzzed. It was a text from Darce.

"**The Hunters go marching five by five. Hurra! Hurra!**"

"What?" I asked outloud.

My scroll buzzed again, another text:

"**The Hunters go marching five by five. Hurra! Hurra!**"

"That's the same thing, Darce." I said, letting my irritation show in my voice.

"**The Hunters go marching five by five. The little one took a swan dive, but the rest kept marching all through the school, in the search for me.**"

Oh...not Darce, Puck. This is bad. It buzzed again, this time it was a picture.

"Oh my god!" I shouted in horror.

_**Puck:**_

_There's something wrong with my head_

_Everything's so…._

_Funny_

_It's like I'm high_

_But at the same time_

_I've never been clearer_

_I needed to kill them_

_they were getting in my way_

_they needed to die_

_They wanted Mab to fail_

_Mab can't fail_

_I can't fail Mab_

_I found the red and white ones in a workshop_

_I had a sniper rifle for some reason_

_I didn't question it_

_I just fired_

_And laughed_

_I kept laughing until I stopped shooting_

_I kept shooting until they were dead_

_They needed to die_

_So they died_

_Only one didn't_

_The red one protected the white one_

_With her body_

_The white one cried for a bit_

_Then picked her up_

_and ran_

_Even as her white became red_

_But not before I got a picture_

_So I sent it to my target_

_With a little something_

_To add my particular flare_

_Like signing an art piece_

_So that he knew how good I was_

_And maybe come with me peacefully_

_Maybe Mab would like it too._

_I followed the white-turned-red one_

_Silently blending with the shadows_

_She met the yellow one_

_And the yellow one, too, turned red_

_Maybe red was contagious_

_Red isn't my color_

_So I keep my distance_

_I quietly chuckle to myself_

_Lining up my next shot_

_**The Hunters were marching four by four**_

_**Hurra! Hurra!**_

_**The Hunters were marching four by four**_

_**Hurra! Hurra!**_

_**The Hunters were marching four by four**_

_**The big one now breathes no more**_

_**But the rest kept marching**_

_**All through the school**_

_**In the search for me.**_

_Boom! Boom! Boom!_

_Two shots to the back_

_One to the head_

_The yellow-turned-red one died instantly_

_The white one screamed and dropped the red one_

_She ran again_

_I wouldn't kill her_

_Yet_

_She still needed to lead me to her little black friend_

_And Him_

_Before I follow her, I take another picture_

_And sent it to my target_

_And I laugh._

_**Blake:**_

Blake discovered that the books in here weren't books, but memories and knowledge.

Right now she was reading about American history and learning Earth's culture. On the surface, Earth shared a lot of similarities with Remnant. But deep down, they couldn't be further apart. It almost sounded like a paradise: No Grimm, no dust mines, no White Fang, no Roman Torchwick. But it also seemed so...empty. There was no dust, no aura, no semblances, no huntresses or huntsmen, and no faunus. Instead of discrimination of faunus, the humans discriminated each other based off _skin color!_ And being too colorful wasn't seen as self-expression either, it was seen as childish and rebellious. Earth entranced and baffled her at the same time. Just as she was getting to a large part about something called "Shipping", the door burst open and Weiss crashed through, covered in blood.

"OhmygodBlakethey'redeadthey'realldead!" Weiss cried and sobbed into Blake's shoulder.

"Weiss, calm down." Blake said as soothingly as possible with this sudden surprise, her instincts telling her to comfort her friend.

"Ruby and Yang are dead!" Weiss was in a full on panic and cried uncontrollably while practically clinging to Blake.

'_Shit, there goes half of us._'

"Shh, shh, it's okay." Blake patted her back awkwardly, "It's all a dream, remember? They're fine. Right now they're waking up in the real world and probably just munching on the snacks you and Ruby brought us before we got suck into this."

_**Ruby:**_

Ruby was sitting in a chair, munching on snacks as she watched her friends sleep on the floor. Yang suddenly jerked awake and sat up.

"What happened?" She asked, looking at her surroundings.

"You probably died. Cookie?" Ruby offered.

Yang looked at Ruby for a very long moment before leading up and tackling her sister in a bear hug.

"Oh my god, Ruby, don't you ever scare me like that again!" Yang cried, crushing her little sister with her love.

"Y-y-y-a-a-a-n-n-n-g-g-g...a-air…" Ruby managed to choke out.

Yang quickly released her, but still gave her a concerned look.

"I thought you were dead." Yang explained simply.

"Yeah, not so much." Ruby said with a wide grin, "I'm fine, Yang."

"Alright, alright. Weiss tells me you sacrificed yourself for her, care to explain?"

"She's my partner, and I knew I wouldn't really die, so I just went for it, ya' know?"

"Rrrriiiiggggghhhhtttt." Yang said slyly, "It wouldn't happen to be related to the reason you look at her in a certain way when you think nobody's looking, would it?"

"W-w-what? I-I don't know w-what you're talking about!" Ruby said, a furious blush spreading across her face.

"Sure, Ruby. Sure."

_**Maybe whiterose? depends how things play out. Anyway, I'll see you next week! Make sure to follow, favorite, review, PM, and Vote!**_


	26. I win go fish

**_Hey, Fanatics! I'm really sorry I missed last week, life did that thing where it gets in the way of greatness and stuff. Lengthy_****_A/N on bottom, but you should read it. Other than that, please enjoy!_**

Ch. 23: I win go fish

_**Gray:**_

I was running through the school, desperately looking for anyone left alive.

'_It's my fault they're dead. If I hadn't gotten so pissy and just gone with her, Yang would still be alive._'

The only reason I wasn't in a full on panic was because the rational part of my brain knew that both Ruby and Yang hadn't really died, only woken up. But I still needed to find Blake and Weiss. I'd covered the doorway into my mind and dorm as much as possible in the hope that it would be enough, but if the cost of curing my brother of this..._thing_ was having it inside me instead, then so be it.

Where would Weiss be? I didn't see anything other than Yang's closet glow in their dorm room, so where else does Darce associate with her? Where am I, anyway? This is the path to Prof. Port's classroom, I walked it almost every morning. There'd be nothing there, but the library was only a few…

I came to an abrupt halt. There, in the walkway in front of me, were two bodies. Both were very unrealistically bloody, both were very dead, both were very familiar.

"Oh my god…" I said aloud.

Puck had sent me a picture of this, but I hadn't really looked at it. Now, I couldn't look away, not wanting to believe my eyes.

"They're not really dead, Gray, pull it together." I tried to discipline myself, with little success, "They're not really dead."

It didn't matter how many times I said it, I was still in shock. Yang and Ruby, who seemed to be the personifications of life and energy, lie dead right in front of me.

"Personifications? Lie dead? Jesus, I've been in here too long, I'm starting to think like Darce talks." I attempted to joke.

I didn't sit there for a few minutes crying, and I most certainly did _not_ cover my eyes and run in the general direction of the library. I bowed my head in respect and calmly walked to my destination in a very manly way with completely dry eyes, but a sprinkler popped out of nowhere and sprayed me in the face, irritating my eyes. A little must of gotten in my windpipe, because when I arrived I was choking a little bit with red puffy eyes and wet cheeks. _**I was not crying!**_ _**They're not really dead, so why would I evencareSHUTUP!**_

_**Blake:**_

Blake's enhanced hearing picked up sobbing that wasn't Weiss' coming from the entrance of the library. It slowly faded and Gray appeared from behind one of the bookshelves. He looked as bad as Weiss had been when she had charged in here crying.

"Gray, are yo-"

"I WAS NOT CRYING!" He cried defensively.

"Er, okay then. You didn't happen to see Ru-"

"They're not really dead."

"Right, I know. Have you seen fake Darce around, by any chance?"

"No." Blake could tell by his face that something along the lines of '_But when I get my hands on him..._' were crossing the young faunus' mind.

'_But he wasn't always a faunus. Does it matter? I mean, He didn't choose to become a faunus, but he hasn't complained either. Even with so much hate surrounding those wolf ears._'

A sudden buzz came from Gray's scroll and he froze as if in terror. He slowly reached in his pocket and checked a message. It buzzed again and he looked about ready to scream. Blake looked to see what could possibly scare him so much. They were texts from Darce.

"**The hunters were marching three by three, Hurra! Hurra!"**

"**The hunters were marching three by three, Hurra! Hurra!"**

"What's that? What does Darce mean by this?" Blake asked.

Gray looked around frantically.

"Where's Weiss?!" He asked, panic filling his voice.

"She went to a secluded place to calm down for a bit and clean the blood off of her clothes, why?"

"Because Darce didn't send me that text, Puck did." He replied grimly.

_**Puck:**_

_I found them_

_All of them_

_The white-turned-red one_

_The black one_

_And Him_

_My target_

_I know he's the most dangerous one of them all_

_And I can't kill him_

_Mab said so_

_I couldn't fail Mab_

_I won't fail Mab_

_I'll get him and Mab will be happy_

_Mab WILL be happy_

_Even if it kills me_

_Even if He kills me_

_Mab will be happy_

_They're in a library_

_I like libraries_

_And books_

_And stories_

_I'll try and not get the books bloody_

_Maybe when I'm done I'll read a few_

_Or take some with me_

_Mab likes books too_

_I'll get a few for her_

_I wonder if Lily and Cinder like books_

_If I find any I think they'll like I'll grab them_

_Maybe it'd get Lily to loosen up a bit_

_I hope so_

_I mull over what kinds of books Lily would read as I take aim at the white one_

_She's served her purpose_

_Bang!_

_He came out of nowhere_

_And blocked the bullet with his armored arm_

_Finally, my target is here_

_He's shouting something_

_He wants a face to face battle with me_

_I laughed_

_I felt like I was going to enjoy this for some reason_

_Oh, look, the black one_

_Bang!_

_**Darce:**_

Alright, I was on my last card, this was the moment of truth.

"Do you have any Jacks?"

He looked through his hand and stopped at a card.

"Fuck. Yeah, here, kid." Lumen tossed a Jack down and I placed mine on top of his, emptying my hand.

"And that's game. What do we do now?"

"We could either start another game, or just talk."

"I'm kinda bored with go fish, so I guess we talk."

"Like what?"

"For starters, how much longer until we're out of here?"

"Well, Lily's seal should be broken any minute now, but there's still the problem of Puck. He's gained a soul separate from yours, so you'll have to deal with him like any other living thing."

"By killing him."

"Correctamundo, my furry friend."

"So I can leave here when the seal's down?"

"Yep."

"Who even came up with these rul-"

_CCCCCCRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAACCCCCCCKKKKKKKK!_

It felt like someone had suddenly ripped the world's largest bandaid off of my brain. I clutched my head and fell over.

"That," Lumen commented casually, "Would be the seal. Good luck, kid, 'cause it's show time."

_**Weiss:**_

'_Shit, shit, shit!_' Weiss uncharacteristically cursed in her head.

She'd ran, _again_! The moment she returned to her senses she turned and went back to Blake and Gray. There was something about this place that was taking away her normal self-composure. She'd cried in front of Blake for pete's sake! As she neared her friends, she saw Darce running towards them with a manic grin spread across his face. No, not Darce, Puck. He was charging at them with his arms spread wide and his claws extended with lightning sparking between his fingers. Blake and Gray were shooting at him, but he was dodging everything easily.

'_Puck, while in this dream, will be pretty much indestructible, so watch out for him._' Weiss remembered Lumen saying.

"Fall back! We can't beat him!" She called out to her friends.

"I DON'T GIVE A SHIT!" Gray shouted, firing another volley of rockets at the oncoming enemy.

"Gray, she's ri-" Blake started, but was interrupted by a sudden splitting noise.

_CCCCCCRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAACCCCCCCKKKKKKKK!_

Puck fell into a heap, clutching his head.

"What's happening?!" Weiss asked, surprise coloring her voice.

"I don't know, but we should get out of here while he's distracted." Blake replied. She turned to speak with Gray, but he was angrily charging at the fallen faunus.

Weiss knew that not only would an attack be pointless and a waste of precious time, but might actually hasten his recovery by unfocusing him from the pain in his head. She needed to stop Gray before he did something stupid. She was preparing to dash and freeze her friend when Blake saved her the trouble by wrapping her ribbon around his torso and yanking him away.

"No! Let me go!"Gray yelled in protest as he struggled against his bonds.

Blake payed him no heed and dragged him quickly away, making sure he was off balance so he couldn't yank himself free.

"Weiss, try and freeze Puck, we'll regroup in the gym!" Blake called out to her only remaining teammate.

She nodded and turned back to her opponent, only to see he was already getting up. He glared angrily at her, the amusement he had previously shown now gone. Weiss took a deep breath and readied Myrtenaster. She was again ready to dash and freeze him, but was again interrupted. Darce leaped from out of nowhere and slashed at his doppleganger. Puck dodged last second and the two were quickly locked in combat.

"Weiss, you guys don't need to be here anymore! The seal is broken, and this is my fight. Go tell the others!"

_**Gray:**_

I was still pulling against the restraints Blake had wrapped around me when Weiss showed up, out of breath.

"Darce is fighting Puck. He says the seal is broken so we can leave now."

I stopped struggling and looked up at her.

"And how are we supposed to leave? We kill each other? No, I say we stay and kill that son of a-"

"Grudges aside," Blake interrupted me, "I agree with Gray. There's no harm in helping Darce."

"I'll go along with whatever you guys decide." Weiss nodded.

"Then get this thing off of me and let's do this! I'm gonna punch that fucker in the face!" I excitedly yelled.

Blake rolled her eyes but released me. We all made a mad dash for the fight, but when we arrived we realized our dilemma: Which one was Darce? They both looked identical and were fighting hand to hand. I decided to try the simplest way first.

"Hey, which one of you is Darce?!" I shouted over the sounds of their fight.

"Me! I'm carrying Nihil!" said the one with a sword in its sheath.

"Bullshit, you took that from me! I'm Darce!" said the other one

"No, I'm Darce!"

Well, shit. Plan B it is, then. I jetted over to them and punched one in the face, knocking him out cold. The conscious one sighed in relief.

"Thanks, how'd you know it was me?"

"I don't." I answered, turning around and knocking him out as well.

Hey, I said I'd punch him in the face, plus I just really like punching my brother, okay? If you can't understand that, you're an only child and I envy you.

_**Darce:**_

I came to tied up to a chair in a dim room.

'_Well, doesn't this take me back. It's almost like it was yesterday I was in this exact same position, only with a knife-wielding narcissist and her angry older sister. Wait, I think that was yesterday. Jesus, it's been nearly ten chapters, and only two days have gone by!_'

"You both awake? Good, let's get started." Gray's voice came from behind me.

I heard shuffling and realized that Puck was facing me, tied to a chair like me. Gray stepped in the space inbetween us with several flashcards in hand.

"Darce 1: What is your middle name?" He asked Puck.

"Roy." He answered.

'_How the hell does he know that?!_'

"Correct! Darce 2: What was dad originally going to name me?"

"Garret. Mom wanted to name you Shane, so they compromised."

"Correct. Darce 1:...-"

The questioning went on like that for another five minutes before Gray ran out of questions.

"Alright, so here's my question: How the hell do you know any of this?" I asked Puck, "Mab and Lily filled your mind with a false life so you wouldn't remember anything."

"All of which promptly faded once the seal broke." He answered.

"So _you're_ Puck!" Gray said accusingly.

"No," he said almost sadly, "Not anymore. But I guess I can't truly call myself Darce anymore, either. Puck was a fairy tale, and he's gone now, but fairy tales have a way of popping up again. I can feel him, circling around in my mind like a sleeping shark. We don't have much time until he comes snapping to the surface."

"Then what do you propose we do?" I asked.

He looked up at me and gave a sad smile.

"Kill me."

_**Alright, that took a lot longer than it should have. Again, I am really sorry I missed last week. Anyway, while I have your attention, I'd like to explain how I plan to get the relationship going once the voting on my poll is done:**_

**_Yang: For her I'm thinking a scene where they're sparring and one of them trips over the other and there's that moment where their faces are like two inches apart and I think you can imagine the rest. This will either happen before team RWBY goes on their mission to mountain Glenn, or after Breach. White Rose happens._**

**_Ruby: Tries to tell Weiss how she feels about her, gets politely rejected, goes to sob somewhere, bumps into Gray, he tries to comfort her but she feels like she's unlovable 'n stuff, then wing-bam-boom somehow they're making out. Yang will go into "Overprotective Sister Mode". Will happen after Breach. White Rose doesn't happen._**

**_Weiss: Is getting into a shouting match with Gray when he says something like "Yeah, well I'm a better kisser than you'll ever be" Then she's like "Prove it!" and he's like "Don't test me, I'll actually do it!" "You don't have the balls!" "Oh, yeah?" "Yeah!". Yang walks into team RWBY's dorm room finding them sucking face. Yang has to comfort Ruby for several chapters. Will happen just before dance. White Rose doesn't happen._**

**_Blake: N/A (Mine! *hiss*)_**

**_Jaune: For the lols. Will just happen during breach battle, Pyrrha gets jealous and everthing. White Rose happens._**

**_Emerald: Gets some Stockholm syndrome-y crush on Gray and starts stalking him. Kidnaps him, ties him up, and essentially mouth-rapes him until he likes it. Happens just before Breach battle. White Rose happens._**

**_Mab/Lily: Happen in a way and at a time that I cannot say right now, as it is important to the story! Gray goes bad, but if you're going to vote one of these two, please vote Mab because I've built up this image of Lily being pretty much a sociopath and her being in a relationship would really screw that up. White Rose happens._**

**_I would add Neo (again for lols), but I don't really have a feel for her character, so I don't want to risk it._**

**_A note on White Rose: I've been going off script for a while now, so I just thought to myself "What the hell? Let's sail this ship!" So if it fucks up the canon story in the future I'll just adjust it to fit mine. Like, if Weiss says in Vol. 3 "Lesbians are so disgusting!" or something like that then that part will be removed from my story to fit my version of events._**

**_That's all for now! I'll try and be faster for the next chapter. You are all so amazing for reading this far, you don't even know how much that means to me. This fic will go on for as long as RWBY is still airing, and maybe even longer. See you lot next week!_**


	27. I give 'em the ol' Razzle Dazzle

_**Hello one and all! another chapter finished last minute, so I hope the quality doesn't reflect that. Anyway, please enjoy!**_

Ch. 24: I give 'em the ol' Razzle Dazzle

_**Puck:**_

"Kill me."

_No, no, no_

_We can't have any of that_

_I need to go back_

_To Mab_

She lied to you.

_NO SHE DIDN'T_

Are you really so blind that you can't see the obvious? She named you after a servant from a Shakespearean play. Most notably a servant of Titania, aka Mab, queen of the fairies. She's using us.

_LIES!_

You want to know a lie? How about "Your name is Robin Goodfellow." Or "Mab is one of the good guys." Or even "Mab gives a flying fuck what happens to you." SHE. IS. USING. US. YOU. BLIND. IDIOT!

"_NO!" I cried aloud, coming to the surface of my mind and silencing the liar._

_I was in a dim room, tied to a chair._

"_Well well well, this takes me back." I said with a chuckle._

"That's what I was thinking!" _agreed a boy sitting across from me._

_Strange, he looks familiar. I couldn't quite put my finger on where though. He was also tied up and had a paper saying "Darce #2" on it. What kind of name is Darce? And why is he #2?_

"So I take it you're back to being Puck?" _Asked the familiar stranger._

"_Back? When did I stop?" I asked with a laugh._

_I liked this stranger. Maybe I wouldn't kill him. I might break a few bones if he got in my way, but maybe not kill. Unless I felt like it, then I'd make balloon animals out of his entrails. I chuckled to myself at the thought._

_Balloon _animals.

I remembered when my little brother and I went to a carnival when we were kids. A clown made Gray a balloon crown, and it made him so happ-

_What? I don't have a little brother! And even if I did, it wouldn't be G-_

He kept the crown for weeks before it deflated. He was really upset about it, so dad went out and bought him a new one. Afterwards, he learned how to make balloon crowns himself so that whenever Gray was feeling down, he could make him another one.

_These are not my memories! I am Puck! I AM PUCK!_

Even after Gray outgrew the crowns, dad always loved to tease him by making more.

_WHERE IS ALL OF THIS COMING FROM?!_

_**Darce:**_

Puck had been in control for all of ten seconds when his eyes turned solid white and he started twitching and foaming at the mouth.

"Is...he having a seizure or something?" Gray asked curiously.

"I don't think so. Can you even get a seizure in a dream?"

"Hell if I know."

"He's not having a seizure," Said a new but familiar voice from behind us, "He's having a conflict of identity. It's kinda like when a person pukes after eating bad meat."

We didn't even turn around to give him the satisfaction.

"I suppose this is the part of the story where you play exposition again, isn't it, Lumen?" I replied.

"Only a little bit. I just wanted to remind you that the _only_ way to completely be free of Puck is to kill him, and the only way to kill him while leaving you unharmed is to do it in a dreamscape. That being said, I wanted to ask you a question, Darce."

"What?"

"How is aura made?"

I turned and gave him a questioning look. He wanted Aura 101 _now_?

"Well, it's not so much made as produced. That's kinda like asking how blood is made. The soul makes aura of its own accord."

"Alright, so we know Puck has his own aura, so we know he has his own soul. Now, tell me, how are souls made?" Lumen continued

"Souls are made when babies are born." Gray supplied.

"Right, but if that's true, where did Puck's soul come from?"

Gray and I thought about that for a bit, but it was obvious that Lumen was trying to get some kind of point across.

"Fine, I'll bite. Where?" I finally caved.

"What I'm trying to say, my dear Darce, is that Puck, for all intents and purposes, is your kid."

My thoughts ground to a hult.

"I'm sorry..._What_?" I was completely confused.

"When Lily locked your mind and soul away, your body compensated by generating second generation aura, or as we in the field call it '2GA'. Usually, this is no big deal, but when she pumped ideas and memories into it, the 2GA used them to essentially reverse-engineer a soul. The end result? A new form of pregnancy that is way over-complicated and with none of the fun stuff."

...Fuck...my...life...

"So," Gray butted in, "You mean to tell me that Lily knocked my brother up, and didn't even buy him dinner?"

"Fuck you, Gray! I went from being Epsilon to Tucker! This isn't a joke!"

"I disagree. You're brain-prego and that's hilarious." Gray said with a completely straight face, "The only thing funnier is that your kid is...well, _that_." He pointed over to Puck, who still had foam flowing out of his mouth.

"Speaking of which, should we be worried about him? I mean, he does look bad, but he still tried to kill every-"

"_LLLIIIIIEEED._" Puck suddenly hissed.

"Uh, what?" I asked.

"_Sssshhhhheeee...lllliiiiiieeeeed...toooo...meeeee!_" Puck said through his spasms.

The shadows from around the room started to crawl towards him and pool at his feet.

"I'm gonna take a wild guess and say we _do_ need to worry about him." Gray answered himself.

"_She….LIED TO MEEE!_" Black tendrils rose from the pool and began to tear at his bindings.

"What the hell is that?!" I asked.

"That would probably be his semblance." Lumen replied with a detached interest, "You'd better make your choice soon, before he gets out of those ropes."

"What choice?" I demanded.

"Help or kill." he said simply.

"I thought you wanted me to kill him!"

"Yeah, that was before I realized what an asset he could be."

'_Why does he care?_' I asked myself, but more pressing matters were at hand.

"Fuck it, how do we help him?"

"Well, first you're gonna have to calm him down."

"How the hell am I supposed to do that?! The guy just found out that his 'queen' is just a bratty sociopath!"

Just then Puck broke out of the chair and stood up menacingly.

"That's for you to figure out, I'm done with the whole 'plot device' schtick." With that, he vanished.

"Oh, you son of a cockbite." I cursed under my breath.

Puck stood there for a while, his eyes wild and unfocused. Gray and I were ready for him to start attacking at any moment. Then something unexpected happened: he started crying.

"_S-s-she-e-e l-lied t-to m-m-me-e-e!_" He sobbed, falling to his knees and cried into his hands like a five year old that just had his ice cream stolen.

Now Gray and I just stood there now, feeling very awkward.

"Uh...what do we do?" I stuttered. Crying people were _not_ my strong suit.

"Don't look at me! He's your kid!"

That thought still filled me with a bunch of conflicting emotions that scare and confuse me, so I instead tried to focus on something else.

"Hey, where're the others? I saw Blake and Weiss with you earlier." I asked Gray as we slowly inched our way towards Puck.

"I killed them after I knocked you out." He replied nonchalantly

"You WHAT?!"

"Oh, come on Darce, they didn't need to stick around for the messy bits.. Anyway, shouldn't we be focusing on-"

"_She's a __**LIAR**__. I __**KILL LIARS**__._" Puck's tone went from helpless child to spawn of Satan in no time flat.

"Shit!" I yelped as he lunged at me.

_**Lumen, elsewhere:**_

"Well, they seem to be handling themselves well." Said a sarcastic female voice from behind me, "You really chose your champions wisely for this game."

"Piss off, at least mine have something resembling sanity." I replied testily.

"Oh, touchy. But really, why did you choose those two? Neither have any experience or talent for what we have in mind, and when we were only going for one, you picked Darce. It just doesn't make a whole lot of sense."

"You want to know the real reason I chose Darce? Chance."

"What?"

"I picked my champion out of complete randomness. With Gray, it was only because he was the nearest person to the portal."

"You, Lumen Tenebris, left a game...up to chance?" She asked, dumbfounded.

"Yep. Lately, our games have been more and more dull. If I kept choosing the 'wise choice' the games would all end up blurring together. It was getting repetitive, so I spiced it up."

There was a moment of silence, then she burst into laughter. I turned to her, seeing her face with my own eyes for the first time in months. I'd missed her beautiful laughter, and the little ripples of light and dark that went through her features when I did something that amused her. Her pitch black eyes gleamed with mirth as she clutched her sides. When she calmed down, we simply looked at each other with contented smiles, living in the moment.

"I missed you, Nox." I finally said.

"I know." She replied coyly.

_**Gray:**_

Puck lunged at Darce before I could react. One hand went for his throat while the other was jabbed towards his gut. Darce's reaction time was better than mine, but not good enough. He was able to block the throat slash, but the second attack landed. Darce gave a pained yell, but Puck twisted his hand and ripped through the rest of his stomach in a frenzy.

"_**I KILL LIARS**_ _**!**_" Puck screamed into the air like a victory roar.

Darce limply fell to the floor, eyes still wide from pain and shock.

"You _**BASTARD!**_" I cried, punching him on the side of his head.

The blow should've knocked him out again, but he just skidded back a few feet. His head snapped towards me and his face contorted into hate.

"_**You smell like LIES. You're like HER, and HIM, aren't you? You lie to get me to do your dirty work, BUT I WON'T!**_"

Smell like lies? Either he was crazy in the "I can hear colors" way, or he just found his second semblance. I was going to hope for the first, but prepare for the second.

He pounced at me but I knocked him to the side. I then ran over to the door and ripped it out of its hinges. I turned to throw it at him, but I saw that I was too late. He was only a few feet away, in mid-leap, aiming for my throat. Time slowed down for me, as Puck came closer and closer to slicing my head off. My dominant hand was wrapped around the door knob and I wouldn't be able to free it in time to save me. Instinctively, I brought my other hand up and tried to push him away. But when my hand made contact with him, I felt something start to vibrate under my skin. That energy that I'd been feeling ever since the docks started to flow towards Puck, and in that instant a blinding flash of light erupted from my hand and entered him. He stopped, claws inches from my jugular and a confused expression on his face. Suddenly, brilliant light began to shoot out of his eyes and he began to yell. The yell wasn't in pain, but a weird fusion of happy and surprised, like when you stretched after spending too much time sitting down. When it finally died down, he crumpled to the floor.

_**Blake:**_

Blake couldn't believe Gray would just turn on them like that. One moment she was helping tie up one of the Darces, the next she was waking up. Weiss woke with her, and now all of team RWBY was watching over the Forge brothers with anticipation, making idle small talk while they waited. After what seemed like an eternity, Darce jolted awake. Ruby and Blake immediately had the gun versions of their weapons pointed at him. Darce yipped and threw his hands up.

"G-guys! It's me, Darce!"

"Prove it!" Yang demanded.

"Blake has a velvet-lined closet for her bow collection!" Darce said immediately.

Everyone paused at that.

"Really?" Ruby asked.

Blake blushed and nodded.

"Alright then," Yang said as Ruby and Blake but away their weapons, "What happened to Puck?"

"I don't know. Some really confusing stuff happened and he got the drop on me. But at least I'm back in control of my body."

"For now, but for all we know, he could come back into control when he wakes up." Blake said, pointing at Darce's shadow.

It wasn't moving with Darce, seemingly stuck in a sleeping position.

"Well, that's not foreboding at all." Darce said as sarcastically as possible.

_**And that's a wrap! Please don't forget to follow, fav, review, and...**_

_**OH! That's right! Voting! That reminds me!**_

_**So, guys, so far Yang is winning, but there is still hope! The voting will be closed next Wednesday, but that's plenty of time to go to my profile and vote for who you believe should be with Gray! But the reverse is also true: If you really want Yang x Gray, then you should continue voting! She's only ahead by two votes! (The runner up being Ruby)**_

_**Also, I'm having trouble coming up with shipping names for Gray x [Blank], so if you have anything, PM it to me!**_

_**That's all, see you next week!**_


	28. Magenta trailer

_**Alright guys, life is being a bitch again, so I'm going to be late with this chapter to. I recently started taking some college courses and it's taking up a lot of my time. This weeks chapter will be posted next week at the regular time. In the meantime, I decided to bestow upon you the gift of more trailers for yet another set of OCs that I've been working for a while (They'll show up officially at around the end of Vol. 2). Oh, and the voting has been closed, thank you to the twelve people who bothered to vote, you're all beautiful.**_

_**Magenta trailer**_

Mab sat in her evil lair sipping coffee while looking over the latest updates on the Forge brothers, a janitor was off to the side whistling while mopping up the floor. Yes, they had a janitor, evil lairs don't clean themselves. Especially the underground variety. The young girl rub her temples as she learned that yet another plan to capture or kill them had failed. If they continued to oppose them, with all their skills and knowledge, they could very well win. And that just wouldn't do, not with the plans Mab had. And Mab always had her way.

More dangerous than their ability to kill was the fact that they knew where their base was, Cinder's true identity and presents at the school, and what happens next. She had pleaded with Cinder to change something, _anything_, to throw the brothers off, but she had refused. Somehow, she was so confidant that they wouldn't interfere that she kept them plowing on in the same course. the blonde knife-wielder couldn't tell if it was genius or arrogance.

When she finally decided to just relax, she leaned back, closed her eyes, and nodded along with the janitor's tune, humming along.

Her eyes snapped open at a sudden realization. She quickly unsheathed Red Death and flung it at the janitor. It caught him square in the chest as he cried out in pain and shock. He clutched at the knife as he slumped down. She stomped over to him and yanked the blade out harshly.

"How did you get in here, Malcolm? And where are the others?" She hissed at the boy who no longer was wearing a janitor's uniform.

The boy that laid in front of her was a human in his late teens, with brown buzzed hair and hazel eyes. A black leather hooded trench coat covered him from head to toe, obscuring most of his form. He looked up at her and gave her a pained smirk.

"How'd you….know it was….me?"

"You were whistling 'Moves Like Jagger'." She deadpanned.

"Oh…..Well, shit." He said simply.

"Yes, now answer my questions!" She demanded.

"Your security is crap and mostly unconscious, and that's all I'm saying."

Mab visibly paled at this.

"Darce is close, he has to be. Illusions are his thing, not yours." Mab deduced.

"Unless my semblance….allows me to copy other….people's semblances." Malcolm choked out, flipping her the bird.

"Is it?" If he gave a yes or a no, she could use her own semblance to figure it all out.

"Bitch it….might be." He replied neutrally.

Even as he was coughing out blood, he chuckled at the thought that those might be his last words.

Mab growled in frustration and slit his throat right then and there.

"MALCOLM!" Cried a female voice from behind her.

Mab turned around just in time to dodge what was possibly the world's most oversized sword. She knew who this was even before she got a clear look at the girl's face

"YOU ROTTEN LITTLE COCKBITE!" Screamed the newcomer.

"Well, hello to you to, Olive." Mab sarcastically greeted.

Olive was mouse faunus around the same age as Malcolm. She had black hair with a red streak like that girl from Kill La Kill, and green eyes. She had on light leather armor that was tight but not revealing. Oh, and the previously mentioned sword that looked like it was made for killing mountains.

"So that's two down." Mab muttered to herself, "Now where's Jake and-"

"_**KOWABUNGA, BITCH!**_" Shouted yet another voice.

Jack burst into the room on a jet-powered skateboard with his usual excited flare and wide grin, the latter of which quickly disappeared when he saw Malcolm's dead body.

"Oh, shit man! Jake, get your lazy ass in here! Malcolm's down!"

Jake walked through the hole Jack had just made. They were both identical human twins, with dark brown hair and eyes, and had a light dusting of freckles over their noses. Jack had on an unbuttoned white lab coat with a black t-shirt underneath and jeans, all of his armor hidden beneath it to give an air of casualness. Jake, on the other hand, was more practical. He wore his normal everyday clothes with a simple metal breastplate and arm and leg bracers. He also had something round holstered on his right hip.

"Three against one, Mab." Olive noted, saying there was an edge to her voice would be an understatement.

and they all charged at once.


	29. I'm deeply confused

_**chapter 25, in which shit happens. And a bunch of time skips. Please enjoy.**_

Ch 25: I'm deeply confused

_**Gray:**_

I nudged Puck's body with my foot.

"Puuuuck?" I asked cautiously, "You alive?"

He groaned.

I had no idea what just happened or what I did to him, but I could feel the insanity leave him. taking his killing intent with him. It was like his cleared mind turned up the lights around us and made everything brighter.

He sat up and brought his hand to his head.

"What...happened?"

"How much do you remember?"

"I was...trying to remember...then, they knocked me out...I..I killed someone, then I was fighting...I was fighting _you_. Then I was fighting myself...and I killed him too. My head was so...cloudy. Like my thoughts were going through a filter. I wanted to do so much. What...happened to me?"

"I don't understand most of it myself, but for what I do know, you're going to have to have a bit of an open mind."

"I feel like someone took a knife and cut my head down the middle, can't get much more open than that."

"Well…"

_**Five minutes of stuff we get already later:**_

He looked like he was going to be sick by the time was done.

"I could've really done without the 'birds and bees' talk, I have access to all of Darce's memories. But still, I know Mab's cute and all, but I was that obsessed?"

"Yeah, I completely tore you up when you realized she'd been manipulating you."

"Jesus. So, I'm basically Junior from Red Vs. Blue. I guess it's better than being that flamethrower guy."

"He only appeared for like five minutes."

"Yeah, but that dude was nuts."

"Wait, how do you know? You're, like, a day old and have never seen rvb."

"I just told you I've got a lot of Darce's memories. That's how I could, you know, _speak english immediately_."

"Oh, yeah. I see you inherited the Forge snark, good to know."

"So...does this mean that..._Lily_ is my mom?"

"'Fraid so."

"Damn."

We remained silent for a few moments. I could see Puck was struggling to digest all of this, so I remained quiet. After a while, he looked over at me.

"Why?"

"What?"

"Why do you care about me all of a sudden? You were calling for my blood not five minutes ago."

"Oh, well actually it was for a few reasons, the first being that you were manipulated into doing all of that. The second is that you did all of it in a dream, so no harm, no foul. And lastly, you're now a part of the Forge family, so you get a free pass."

"Oh,...uh, thanks."

"Just this once, though. Next time I'll deck you in the face so hard you'll see stars for a month, assuming you survive."

"I think I'm starting to sense a pattern with you. Do you like punching peoples face's in general, or am I just special?"

_**Blake:**_

"He's your _WHAT?!_" My team and I asked in shocked unison.

"Yeah, it's freaking me out, to." Darce replied in a worried tone, "I mean, what do I even feed him? I saw him go the some kind of seizure, does he have epilepsy? And if so, will he be affected if I watch flashing lights? Is he allergic to anything? What if I-"

He continued to ramble like that. Of all the things to worry about at a time like this (the White Fang, Roman Torchwick, _the fact that he has a child at all_) he was fretting about his abilities as a single teen father. But, I had to admit, there was something admirable about how he was handling the situation. Not for a moment did he consider any alternative other than taking care of the psychotic shadow that had been suddenly thrust upon him. Then again, Darce had always been the kind of guy that help those in need.

A good guy, which made Blake feel all the more terrible about invading his privacy when he was vulnerable to just sate her curiosity.

"DARCE!" Yang finally interrupted the rambling boy, "We get it! Now when will Gray wake up? And Puck, while you're at it."

"I honestly have no clue. Logic dictates that they should've woken up when I did, but logic hasn't meant much for me these last couple of days."

Right on cue, Gray spasmed awake and started yelling obscenities.

_**Darce:**_

"Holy fuck!" Gray cried.

'_And is he's awake, that only leaves..._'

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my shadow stir. I looked to see it start to stretch its arms and make a yawning motion. There were small white lines outlining his features so I could make out his face. When he was done yawning, I could see that his eyes were white dots and when his mouth wasn't doing anything it simply vanished. He saw me (and everyone else at this point) staring at him and gave us an awkward smile.

"_Um...hi. We haven't been formally introduced yet. I'm Puck...Sure, point a gun at me if it makes you more comfortable._"

Everyone but Gray and me already had their weapons drawn and aimed at him. Gray was giving him an angry glare, however.

"That was a dick move, douchecanoe." He said.

"_Hey, we had to get out of there somehow!_" Puck defended.

"That doesn't mean you can't warn a guy before you suddenly decapitate him!"

"You **what?**" Yang growled, eyes starting to glow red.

"_I took the initiative in returning us to the waking world._" The shadow replied diplomatically.

"By cutting off my head!"

"_Well, that's one way of putting it._"

"You're really not making any good first impressions, are you?" I commented.

"_No, not really._" Puck said in a defeated tone, slumping a bit.

A nurse walked in just then, then halted when she saw four students pointing their weapons at my shadow, which waved at her.

"Ummm...I think I've caught you at a bad time, but you're free to go, Mr. Forge." She said cautiously.

Team RWBY awkwardly put their weapons away as I stood up and began to walk (escape) towards the exit. Before I could make it far, Yang grab my shoulders just tightly enough to stop me.

"We're going to have a very long talk tomorrow." She said simply.

I nodded and left.

_**Puck:**_

As Darce, followed closely by Gray, slunk back to his dorm room to be greeted by two worried teammates, I continued to scan through his mind. With every passing moment I learned more and more about both this world that I was born in, and the homeworld of my "father". I strove to learn everything I could: History, mathematics, aura, battle skills, chemistry, or really anything that I could put to use.

But use for what? When Mab had driven me insane, she'd also given me a purpose. And now I didn't have that. So, what now? I've only been alive for a few days, it's not like I've had time to make an agenda. What do I want to be? With the skills and knowledge Darce was giving me, the logical choice would be to take a profession as a huntsman.

But what was the point of having a profession at all? I was a thoughtform, I needed no food, water, clothes, shelter, or even air. Therefor, I need no money. If I don't need money, then I don't need a job. But if I don't need a job, then what do I do?

At this, I realized my thoughts had come full circle.

Fuck.

'_Could you please think a bit quieter? I'm trying to sleep._' Darce's voice echoed in my head.

'_Shit, was I thinking outloud? Sorry._' I apologized.

'_Puck, you're two days old and my literal brain child, please try and not cuss._'

'_Like you're one to talk, you've been swearing like a sailor since you were….14?_'

'_More like 16, but yeah I see your point_…'

Dammit! I talked to him for all of two seconds and I'm already being really rude! Maybe if I-

'_Jesus, calm down, Puck. You probably get most of that rudeness from me, but Lily doesn't seem like the nicest person in the world, either._'

'_I don't really buy into the whole '_nature vs. nurture' _deal. A person is who they are. They may learn how to act differently, but, deep down, they never change._'

'_...I think we should just get some sleep. 'Night, Puck._'

'_Goodnight._'

_**Darce, the next day:**_

I watched at the edge of my seat as Pyrrha beat the living shit out of team CRDL. Sure I know how it happened already, but seeing it in person, hearing the clash of metal for myself, _and_ hating that whole team on a personal level, made this a much more pleasurable experience. I had a wide smile on my face as she spun Cardin and slammed him against the ground, then added another kick to the face to make sure he stayed down. The lights brightened and Prof. Goodwitch steped onto the floor.

"And that's the match." She declared.

"Ug, lucky shot…" Cardin mumbled before falling over.

Goodwitch looked at his unconscious form with complete detachment.

"Well done, Mrs. Nichos. You should have no problem qualifying for the tournament."

"Thank you, professor." Pyrrha said with polite gratitude.

"Alright," Goodwitch addressed the rest of us, "Now, I know that's a tough act to follow, but we have time for one more sparring match. Any volunteers? Mr. Forge?"

I furrowed my eyebrows. Why call on me and not Blake? Oh, it probably has something to do with the fact that Blake was getting enough sleep and I've been-

"You've been gone for the past few days." Yeah, that, "Why don't you fight next?"

It wasn't a request.

"Sure thing, professor." I replied, getting out of my seat and making my way down to the arena floor.

"Now, let's see if we can find you an-"

"I'll do it." I heard a voice say.

I froze mid-step and turned to see a boy with silver hair with his hand raised. Goodwitch looked up at him and adjusted her glasses.

"Mercury, is it? Very well."

Shit.

_**A few minutes later:**_

I decided I was going to have fun with this. He wanted to see my skills, I'd show him. But I was going to play with my food.

He struck a fighting pose several feet in front of me. We stared each other down for a few moments before Mercury made his move. He charged at me and attacked with a roundhouse kick.

I dodged and shot him in the nards with Aut. His aura protected him from any permanent damage, but it would still hurt like a bitch. He cried out in pain and scrambled away from me.

My unfortunate disadvantage was that, when I was kidnapped, I lost Nihil. With also meant I couldn't use Gemino. All I had was my gloves and Aut until I could make another sword. So I had to make sure that every strike counted.

In the show, his fighting style was like a cobra, relaxed then fast. If I could take away that carefree attitude, then maybe I could glean some of his real skill, or even beat him. A nut-shot would probably do the trick, but some banter couldn't hurt.

"Oh, sorry there, Merc. I'm always forgetting which head I'm supposed to shoot." I said in a perfect mimic of his mocking voice.

He glared at me angrily and charged again. He leaped and tried to slam both boots onto my head, but I caught both of his ankles and sent as many volts as I could through him. He grunted but was able to aim the barrels of his boots at my head and fire. I quickly let go and drop kicked him backwards.

I was dazed by the head wound and I couldn't react fast enough when rushed me again. My arm came up in a sloppy blocking motion, but I knew it wouldn't be enough to stop the blow to my chest I could see coming. He was spinning in the air and building up momentum, his boot would come down hard.

'_Shit, this is going to hurt..._'

At the last moment before his blow came, a black mass rose from the ground and stopped Mercury in his tracks.

'_No, it won't._' Puck said in my mind.

The black thing wrapped around his leg and flung him to the other side of the arena.

'_Because I've found my purpose._'

It curled around itself and formed into a humanoid shape.

'_I may need nothing, but I refuse to see you in pain._'

The darkness peeled away, revealing skin underneath.

"I refuse to see **any** good person in pain!" said the boy now standing in front of me.

_**So that happened. You know, Puck is the most rebellious character I've ever had the pleasure of writing? Not rebellious in the sense of how he acts towards others, but how he refuses to be the character I want him to be. When I first came up with him way back when, he was going to remain a villain and help out Mab. But everytime I sit down and try to make him evil, it just comes out wrong. So he slowly became a good guy in my mind, and thus, on paper. Despite this, or maybe because of it, he has become my favorite character so far.**_

_**Anyway, don't forget to follow, fav, and review-**_

_**Oh, what's that? You want to know the winner of the poll? Well, I will you that I was honestly surprised by the way the votes suddenly turned in the favor one particular girl.**_

_**With that, I shall bid you adieu, and see you guys next week.**_


	30. I am Puck

_**To everyone who has followed, favorited, reviewed, or even just read this far, you are all beautiful and wonderful and you guys are the reason I write! I've got some news on the bottom A/N, but until then, please enjoy this installment of ITG!**_

Ch. 26: I am Puck

_**Puck:**_

I don't know how I did it, I just did. I saw the attack coming, and I knew Darce would be knocked flat on his ass. Mercury would continue to keep him off balance until his aura was past the red. Maybe even kill him and claim it was an accident. Cinder would be pissed, but he wasn't thinking straight right now. I had to stop it, so I did. At that moment, I had a purpose again. That emptiness inside was filled once more. I would protect those that deserved protection. I felt no pain as I reached out and took the blow for Darce. I felt no remorse as I threw Mercury has far as I could away from us. I felt only two things as I coiled into, and gave birth to, myself.

Determination and anger.

I'd given myself meaning, and all the tools I would need: two working hands, two functioning legs, six or seven senses, and a beating heart. I wanted to kick ass, but I knew this wasn't my fight. My new purpose was to protect, not inflict needless pain. Well, not _too_ much, anyway.

"**You.**" I growled as I marched towards the silver haired killer.

He smelled of the blood of others, sarcasm, and a lifetime of lies and thievery. It made me want to cover my nose and turn away, but I would not. He remained silent as I neared him, only letting out a small hum as he sized me up.

"So, it can speak, but can it fight?" He mocked, his carefree mask already back in place.

He tried to kick my knees, but I was faster. I picked him up by his popped collar and slammed him against the wall.

"I won't fight you right now, but I _do_ have a message I need you to deliver to Mab."

"I don't know what you're-" I politely stopped his lie by reintroducing the back of his head to the wall.

"I need you to tell her that her plan backfired, and Puck is not her plaything anymore. Understood?"

The thief nodded and I let him go. He glanced over at professor Goodwitch.

"I forfeit." He spat out.

Satisfied that he would deliver my message, I allowed myself to fade back into Darce's shadow.

_**Darce:**_

I watched in dazed amazement as Puck's body appeared and fought Mercury. He was small, maybe about four feet tall, and looked like some kind of human-Grimm hybrid. He had a basic humanoid shape, but his limbs were slightly elongated. Bone armor covered his shins and forearms, and all of the exposed skin was lightly covered by black hair. He was wearing jean shorts and a black t-shirt. The top half of his face was covered by a Grimm mask, but the markings surrounding it were blue instead of red, and so were his eyes. His mouth was shaped like a human's, but it was full of sharp teeth, like a shark. His hair was styled like mine, only a bit shorter.

When he was apparently done with Mercury, his body crumpled into dust and disappeared.

'_Well,_' his voice was in my head again, '_That was...exciting._'

I questioned him as I walked back to my seat.

'_How'd you do that?_'

'_Honestly? No clue. I just knew I needed to do it, so I did._'

'_And here I was thinking you were going to be like Church from RVB. Instead you're more like that rabbit from DNAngel._'

'_I don't think I can give you wings or pass as a convincing human, Darce._'

'_Won't know until we try._'

I felt him shrug in my mind.

'_Meh. Worth a shot._'

'_Hey, you've already learned the Forge family motto._'

We chuckled at that and took our seat.

...oh, god. I was already referring to myself as two people like Venom. Pretty soon it's going to be 'Hey, can we borrow a pencil?' and 'We'd like a-

"DARCE!" Ruby yelled, breaking me out of my reverie.

"Wha- oh, sorry." I apologized.

"I was asking you how you did that." she repeated.

"Yeah, what's the deal with the Grimm-clone?" Yang leaned over her sister.

"That wasn't a Grimm-clone, that was Puck." I answered. They immediately recoiled.

"What?!" Weiss demanded from the other side of me, "You mean that psychotic murderer can-"

"_You know I can hear you, right?_" Puck said from the floor, his shadowy head gliding onto the top of my desk.

"AAAHH!" Ruby and Weiss shrieked and backed away. Yang, seeing a threat to her baby sister, went red-eyed and activated her gauntlets.

"Get lost, you-" She yelled before she was interrupted.

"MS. XIAO LONG." Goodwitch said in that angry not-yell that she does, "What seems to be the problem?"

Yang hesitated, then put her weapons away. Her eyes slowly returned to normal, but were still angry.

"Nothing, professor." she grunted.

_**Later, team AMGD's dorm:**_

"Why are you just letting him off the hook?!"

"How can you trust him?!"

"Just because he's technically your posterity doesn't make him suddenly good, Darce!"

I had been bombarded with this kind of noise since class had gotten out, now the WBY of team RWBY was collectively chewing me out. Ruby had remained silent the whole time, just following behind her teammates. Puck finally repossessed my shadow and raised both his hands defensively.

"_Now, girls, I'm sensing a lot of hostility-_"

"No shit!" Yang yelled at him, eyes back to red.

"_But, if you would just let me explain my actions, I'm sure we can work passed this._"

"If you think I'm gonna let you bullshit your way-"

"Yang!" Ruby piped up for the first time, "Just let him talk! Geez, you're all acting more immature than _me_!"

Everyone paused at her outburst, then Puck cleared his non-existent throat.

"_Well, you see, when Darce was kidnapped…_"

_**Five minutes of "Mab and Lily did it" later:**_

"_Then Gray did something to my aura and now I'm all better._" Puck finished.

Ruby gave a chastising glance to her team.

"See? It was the bad guys' fault."

"Well, isn't that convenient." Yang muttered. Ruby elbowed her.

"Now, apologize." She commanded.

"What?!" Yang said, dumbfounded, "Why are _you_ defending him? He killed you!"

"Is _that_ what this is about? Yang, I cannot stress this enough, _I forgive him. I am FINE._"

Puck was silent, but he got a confused expression and looked over to Weiss, then cocked his head.

'_What is it?_' I asked him mentally.

'_...Nothing, just picking up some odd stuff._'

'_Odd? Like what?_'

'_Nothing. You should probably focus on all the people staring at you._'

I looked back at my friends to find that they were all looking at me weirdly.

"What?"

"You zoned out there for a minute." Blake said, "Are you alright?"

"I fine, just talking with Puck."

'_Guilt._' Puck suddenly said in my mind.

"Then why don't you talk out loud?" Yang asked, her tone still angry.

"Puck is picking up something weird and trying to tell me about it. It's quicker this way."

'_What do you mean 'guilt'?_'

"What?"

"I don't know, but he says it's odd."

'_I mean Blake. She feels guilty whenever she looks at you. She...I think she stole something from you._'

"Odd how?"

I ignored the question and looked over to Blake, who I just noticed hadn't made eye contact with me the whole day.

"Blake, did you...did you take something from me?"

She stiffened, giving me my answer. Now everyone was looking at her.

"I...well…"

"Blake?" Yang was stunned.

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Blake finally spoke up.

"Could everyone leave? I need to speak to Darce and Gray alone."

They stifled their questions and left after Blake promised to talk to them when she was done. There was another moment of silence before Blake found her nerve.

'_What could she have taken from me that's so bad?_'

"Darce, there is no easy way of saying this, so I'm just going to get to the point. I know about earth."

For a moment, her words didn't quite sink in. It was like she said something like "I have a black bow" or "we're standing in your room." Then I understood and my face went pale.

"You what? How?" Gray asked.

"When we were pulled into that dream and running around in his head, I went to the library. I got bored and started reading the books. But instead of normal books, they were…"

"Memories. Yes, that seems to be a recurring theme." I said bitterly.

My tone made Blake flinch.

"But you didn't stop. No, when you realized what the books were, _you kept going!_"

"Darce! Calm down, it's not that big of a deal." Gray shouted at me.

The anger in me started to grow hotter.

"Not that big of a deal?! How would you feel if someone just barged into your head and learned every secret you have?!"

"Um, Darce?" Puck interjected, "One, I did that too and you didn't so much as bat an eye. Two, that weird thing I was sensing earlier? It's coming from you."

"That was different, you didn't have a choice!"

"Darce, I think whatever Lily did to make me crazy is starting to leak into you." Puck said more forcefully.

"I'm fine." Even I could hear the growl in my voice, but I didn't care.

I could see Gray tense up into a fighting stance, and Blake subtly move her hand closer to Gambol Shroud's handle.

_They're going to attack me._

I decided to throw stealth to the wind and unsheathed my claws.

_**Gray:**_

Just as soon as I thought he was going to pounce, Darce suddenly fell limp on to his bed. Puck rematerialized into his shadow and looked a little guilty.

"What the hell just happened?" I demanded.

"_I put him into a deep sleep by-_" Puck started to explain.

"No, I mean why did he just go all Jekyll and Hyde on us?"

"_Whatever Lily did to me must be bound to the body and not the soul. I think if I look around I might find it, so I'm going to start searching._"

"Alright, good luck."

He gave a two-fingered salute and vanished. The moment he was gone I turned to Blake.

"So, you know."

"Gray I'm so-"

"Save it for Darce when he's sane...well, sane-er. I never really saw the point in keeping it a secret."

She was obviously at a loss for words. With the emotional rollercoaster that the last couple of days have been, I couldn't really blame her.

"How...how can you be so calm?"

"Eh, he's no worse than he was yesterday when he was _being hospitalized_."

"Still, he's your brother."

"Yes, that's how I know he'll be fine. I've lived with the guy for literally my whole life, if he can deal with me he can deal with a little temper tantrum. The question now is can you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You just saw a very ugly side of a guy you think you might like, and you know likes you back. If you can't handle seeing him like this, then you're wasting both your time and his."

By now she'd schooled her expression enough that I couldn't get a read on her reaction to my words. She opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Puck.

"_Hope you guy weren't getting all gushy, 'cause I've got some bad news and worse news._"

I gave a loud sigh.

"The moment all this drama surrounding Darce stops, I'm going to keep him under sedation so he can't get into any more." I muttered to myself.

"_Sure, whatever you want. Anyway, bad news is Lily left behind some kind of mental booby-trap._"

"And that is…" I prompted.

"_Whenever the main host of Darce's body gets a strong feeling of betrayal, they'll go on a homicidal rampage killing everyone they see. My guess, she put it there in case I ever found out I was a pawn._"

"And that would be why you attacked us back in the dream. What's the worse news?"

"_He's waking up and I can't stop him._"

**_Well, looks like our heroes can't catch a break. Oh, well, more fun for us. Anyway, serious time._**

**_Darce, Gray, Mab, and Lily aren't the first people Lumen and Nox have "played" with, and the RWBYverse isn't the first world they've visited. They've been playing their games for a very long time now. So, I was wondering, Are you guys interested in seeing some of their other champions? It won't be in this story, but in a separate fic. It won't be updated weekly like this one, but I've got a few chapters already written out._**

**_Tell me you thoughts and suggestions by PMing me. Also, please follow, fav, and review. I'll see you wonderful people next week!_**


	31. I'm hungry, sneak peek

'_**Sup, fools? Remember when I said the story was going to get darker and it didn't? Yeah.**_

Ch. 27: I'm hungry

_**Darce:**_

_They were going to kill me_

_I'm dreaming now_

_I know I'm dreaming_

_My dream is blank_

_Only filled with my thoughts_

_I wanted to hurt them_

_Kill them before they could kill me_

_Kill Kill _

_KillKillKill_

_KillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKill_

_**KillKillKillKillKillKill**_

Kill Gray?

_Yes! He wanted to kill me first!_

What? Since when?

_He was preparing to! He had his weapons out and everything!_

Really? I'm pretty sure it was because I was practically frothing at the mouth and screaming. He's had his Scorpion out around me before.

_**KILL HIM KILL HIM KILL HIM**_

No!

_**KILL HIM KILL HIM KILL HIM**_

There's...something wrong with my head. Again. Great, just what I need: another voice in my head.

_**KILL HIM KILL HIM KILL HIM**_

Goddammit, SHUT UP FOR A MINUTE!

…

Thank you. Now, where was I? Ah, yes, I'm trying to _not _bloodily murder my friends and family. Let's see, I can't exactly do breathing exercises or yoga in here. Not that I know how to do yoga in the first place. Oh well, how about some calming thoughts? Like raindrops on roses and shit? Okay,...um...Books?

_**Gray:**_

"_He's waking up and I can't stop him._"

"Oh...shit."

"_Yeah, you're going to have a rampaging Freddy Krueger with cat ears in about thirty seconds. You might want to restrain him and remove his weapons._"

Blake had it done before he could even finish the sentence. Gambol Shroud's ribbon securely had him tied to a chair by the time Darce's eyes fluttered open. Surprisingly, where I was expecting some blood-thirsty howl, I got an awkward smile.

"Blake, if you're going to tie me up, You could at least buy me dinner first."

I chuckled at that and Blake swatted the back of my head.

"You okay there, bro? No urges to crush every living soul into dust or take over the universe?"

"No, the sudden need to stab you is entirely me. Nice RVB reference, though. Haven't had one of those in almost a whole chapter."

Blake, now completely lost, cleared her throat.

"If you two are done, I believe we have something important to tell him?" She nudged me.

"Oh, right. Darce, you're an emotional ticking time bomb."

"...Okay, any _new_ news?" He replied jokingly.

"_What he means,_" Puck said from the floor, "_Is Lily has you rigged to blow if you feel betrayed in any way. It's connected to the main host._"

"Well, that explains a lot. Okay, so why don't we just swap bodies? You gotten over your thing with Mab, right?"

"_For the most part, but do you even know how to do that?_"

"Er,...well I just go into that dreamscape place and you come out, I think?"

"_And you have no idea how to do that, do you?_"

"It was a much better plan in my head."

He was joking around again, just like when Lily had his own sword up to his throat. In a way, she still did. It's when he gets like this that he becomes a deadly mix of protective and self-destructive. I knew then that he had a plan B, and I wasn't going to like it. It's not like I could keep him locked up like Sosai. That left me with only one maybe good option left. I stood abruptly.

"I need to go do something. Puck, make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. Blake, go check on your team. I'll be back in a bit."

With that I left the room and headed up to Ozpin's office. When I arrived I knocked loudly.

"Enter." came the headmaster's voice.

I opened the door and walked in.

"Ah, Mr. Forge. How is your brother doing?" he asked, sipping on his coffee.

"Terribly, there's a bomb in his head."

He stopped mid-sip, and slowly lowered his mug.

"Explain."

"Sir, we need your help."

_**A long time later:**_

"And so I have him tied up in our dorm." I finished.

"That...certainly explains a lot. James is going to be interested in his knowledge of the future. You said you needed my help, what exactly do you need?"

"Darce is going to do something stupid soon. Knowing him, he's going to believe he's a danger to the people he cares about and will try to flee to a 'safe place.' Afterward, he'll try and direct the anger in way he believes to be constructive, like killing Cinder and her gang or hitting a White Fang hideout. I'm hoping that you can have someone monitor him so he doesn't end up killing someone, but also so you can see the places he goes and grab the people inside."

"Very well, I'll assign someone immedia-"

"_Gray!_" Puck's voice cried from the floor. I looked down to see him clinging to the shadow of the desk, "_It's Darce. He's gone!"_

_**Darce:**_

The voice was back. It wanted me to hurt someone, _anyone, __**everyone**_. But I can't, not yet. Almost there. _**She betrayed me**_, but I can't think _about that_. Needed to walk faster. People starting to stare. I have my hood covering my face and my head bowed and my tail tucked in. _They can't stare if they have no eyes_. _**Stop looking at me!**_ I stumble into an alley to get _away from their glares._ A group of _disgusting looking men_ were looking at me, _**stop looking**_.

"You lost kid?" One asked as he stood up.

No, I know where I am. An alley close to 3rd and Main. _So close._ They're just a few blocks away. One man shoved me hard enough that my hood came down.

"A faunus?!"

_Cat's out of the bag_. At that moment, I decided 'fuck it' and smiled widely. I allowed that voice to start shouting in my head.

_They have me surrounded. __**Those poor bastards.**_

"You're in the wrong part of town, freak." Another man growled.

"No," I chuckled, "_**I think I'm EXACTLY where I want to be...**_"

…

_**Darkness. Screaming. Laughter. Claws.**_

_**Fire. Blood. Snapping bones. Meat.**_

_**...**_

_**...Silence...**_

…

_**Mimes, in the form of God on high.**_

_**...Food…**_

_**Gray:**_

"How did you lose him?! YOU WERE ATTACHED TO HIM!" I demanded at a guilty looking shadow now inhabiting the shade of Darce's nightstand.

"_I don't know how he did it, he just...severed our connection and ran before I knew what was happening!_" He defended.

"Bullshit, I bet you freed him yourself!" Yang yelled.

"Yang, let Gray handle this." Ruby said irritably, elbowing her sister.

"Okay, you said your connection to him is broken, does that include your psychic connection?"

He gave a slight pause.

"It's faint. The further away he gets the less of him I can feel."

I snapped my fingers in a 'eureka' moment.

"Then the closer we get, the better you can feel him. It'll be like tracking a scent!"

Puck perked up at this.

"_Then what are we waiting for, let's go find him!_"

There was a knock at the door, interrupting that thought.

"Hold on, I've got it." I walked over to and opened the door, "Hello, what can I- WHOA!"

My reflexes were fast enough to save me from literally getting my head chopped off by some weird gun-sword-hook thing.

_**A/N: I think I'll leave it off here for now. So, you know that secondary story I was thinking of writing? Well, I'm actually going to write two. What's that? A sneak peek of the first one? BOOM:**_

Chapter 1: Awakening

There was a loud bang at my door, waking me up from some bizarre dream I couldn't remember.

"Tom! Wake up!" My mom called, "You're going to miss lunch!"

I looked over to my alarm clock. 1:48 PM. Sure enough, lunch would be over in a few minutes, if anyone bothered to pay attention to mom's silly rule about when we could eat. My siblings, a younger brother and an older sister, and I just made ourselves meals whenever we felt like it. My older sister was living with us only until she could find a place of her own, so she spent the majority of the time in her room either on her laptop or watching a movie on her projector. My brother was a hardcore gamer and, since I wasn't really into that, got the game room almost exclusively to himself, some how on his PC, laptop, phone, and Xbox all at the same time. And since I had the social skills of a dead skunk, our overall interactions were few and far between. None the less I loved them to death and they me.

I reluctantly rose from my bed, shaking the last bits of that weird dream from my head. It was something about a man with pitch black eyes and glowing white skin...he wanted something...an answer? A part of the dream came back.

"_What if I told you that I was the closest thing your universe has to a god and I needed you to go to a far away place for me?" the man said in a light Chicago accent._

"_I...I don't know…" I answered nervously. This man scared me for reasons that were beyond reason, whatever that means._

"_It's a yes or no question, Thomas. Will you be my champion?"_

That was all I could remember. Deciding that those chimichangas I had last night were to blame, I simply let it go and left my room for some lunch.

"'Sup, scrub?" My brother, Kyler, greeted from the center of his "nest" of electronics.

"Not much," I yawned, "You?"

"Oh, you know, powning people, collecting things."

"The usual business." I finished for him, and we shared a smirk.

I entered the kitchen and found Kristy making PB&amp;J.

"Well, look who decided to rise from the dead and leave their tomb."

"You're one to talk." I snapped back and she rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

"Whatever, just make yourself a sandwich and go back to your cave."

On a normal day, that would be the plan. Today, however, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. Fresh air would do me good, so after lunch I went outside. Our house is really isolated from the outside world. We're surrounded by thick forest in all directions, but town is a ten minute drive away so it wasn't too bad. I was sitting on the tree stump just inside the forest when that feeling of wrongness suddenly grew.

"Have you decided?" said a voice from behind me.

I turned to see the guy from my dream. Pitch black eyes, glowing white skin, and everything.

"What?"

"Yes or no, will you be my champion?"

"I don't even know what that means!" I said, standing up and backing away.

"Yes or no?"

A man claiming to be a god needs a favor from you. You have no idea what it is and he refuses to go into detail, only that you will be sent to a very far away place. He has even invaded your dreams. You wonder if he'll kill you if you answer no, but you have no way of knowing what he'll do. Answer yes and, if you survive whatever you need to do in this far away place, your mom will definitely kill you. You promised your friends you'd be online by 3:00, and your favorite web series has a new episode coming on later today. Then again, if what this guy says is true, he's a god. For all you know, he could bend time so you were never gone, and maybe the reward could be beyond your imagining. And really, who wants to piss off a god? It could also be a prank by one of your asshole friends and the dream was either a coincidence or coerced somehow, that was a very real possibility. The most likely, in fact. What do you do?

I swallowed deeply and hesitated for only a moment.

"Yes."

"Good choice. Trust me, _**You'll thank me later-**_"

There was a bright flash, then everything faded to black.

_**Don't forget to follow, fav, and review. If you have any thoughts or suggestions you'd like to share, don't be afraid to PM me. See you guys next week!**_


	32. I can't hear you

_**In which our heroes bullshit their way out of messes. And to Malcolm...**_

_**LOG THE FUCK INTO YOUR ACCOUNT WHEN YOU LEAVE A DAMN REVIEW! I KNOW YOU HAVE ONE, I WAS THERE WHEN YOU MADE IT! DAMMIT, THIS IS WHY I KILLED YOU THE MOMENT I PUT YOU IN THIS STORY! I'VE TOLD YOU, NOT ONCE, BUT TWICE TO USE YOUR GODDAMN ACCOUNT, YOU LAZY SHIT!**_

_**...**_

_**Sorry.**_

_**(not to Malcolm, but to the rest of you)**_

Ch 28: I can't hear you

_**Gray:**_

"_You._" Said an angry yet familiar voice.

"Oh, hey there Sosai. Long time, no-"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" She screamed and aimed her guns at me.

Luckily, Yang was on her in a flash, grabbing both guns and twisting them out of her hands. I took the opportunity by punching the would-be assassin as hard as I could in the gut. She flew back and crashed loudly into a wall. Before she could recover, Yang finished the combo with a sideswipe to the jaw. She was out like a light, obviously thinking I would be alone in my dorm and only prepared for one opponent. Ruby, Weiss, and Blake stared, dumbfounded.

"Um,...what just happened?" Ruby asked.

"She…" I started, but struggled to find a way to explain this without using the word 'kidnap'.

"She's obviously under the effects of Lily's semblance. She probably chose Emerald because she's one of Gray's friends." Yang covered.

"Why did you call her 'Sosai' then?" Blake asked.

"It's a nickname I came up with to annoy her." I said, which was actually true to a point.

"You were awfully quick to counterattack-" Weiss started

"Oh, come on, I punch everyone! It's just my way of saying I care." I brushed off.

Ruby giggled.

"Wow, then you must really like Yang." She said. It was meant as a joke, but I found myself blushing, just a tiny bit.

"_Uh, guys? Again, I really hate to be 'that guy', but weren't we doing something?_" Puck interjected

I facepalmed.

"Right, Darce is in trouble for the billionth time. ONWARD!" I charged down the hallway with the others following closely.

_**Puck:**_

We dropped Emerald's unconscious form off at her doorstep and took an airship to Vale. When we arrived, my senses told me Darce was south of us. I took the lead while keeping to the shadows. We were getting closer by the minute, but a strange feeling came over me, like I was being watched. Not just by some stalker, but by hundreds of invisible eyes. I don't know how else to describe it, it was like they couldn't _see_ me, but they were still _observing_ me. I didn't like it. Police sirens took me out of my reverie. As we got closer, I could see police tape covering an alleyway. It smelled like murder and anger and insanity, but worst of all it smelled like _Darce_. I hopped over to Gray.

"_I need you to find out what happened over there._"

Gray turned pale.

"Darce didn't do it, did he?"

"_He was here, now he's not. That's all I know, but there might be something here._"

He nodded and approached a detective.

"Sir, a moment." He said in a very mature voice.

The detective turned and made a disgusted noise in the back of his throat.

"Get lost, kid. Nothin' to see here."

"The police lights and tape say otherwise. I'm looking for a student of Beacon, about 17 years old, dark hair and eyes. He would've been wearing a dark blue quilted hoodie and gloves. Have you seen anyone like that?"

"Crap, first this case, and now I've got a snot-nosed faunus snooping around." He muttered under his breath. I wondered I Gray heard this, but he showed no outward sign of it. Outloud, the detective said, "I said take a hike."

"Sir, I'm under orders from the headmaster himself. If you just comply, we'll be out of your hair before you even know it."

The cop sighed, but relented.

"I haven't seen anyone matching that description. Why, do you think he did this?"

"We have reason to believe he was in the area within the last hour. What happened here?"

"One of the most gruesome crime scenes I've ever seen. Five victims, all torn limb from limb. It looks like an animal attack, claw and teeth marks all over 'em. They were so disfigured, it's a miracle we were able to identify them at all. All of them suspected members of a local anti-faunus gang. But then it gets weirder: they were also electrified to the point of burning with blue dust. Everything points to a wild animal, except its use of dust and the fact that the teeth marks _are human_. Whatever it was must've been starving for days, completely ate up all their fleshy bits. Ate too fast, though, vomited most of it out. DNA doesn't match anyone or any_thing_ in our database. You mind givin' me a name for this student you're lookn' for? Whoever he is is startin' to look like a prime suspect to me."

His words were true. I could smell a mixture of fear, sadness, and disgust radiating from the others. I could understand their feelings, but I also understood Darce's. When that voice started to shout in your head, you didn't even know what you were doing. You didn't realize that you were hurting, killing, or (in this case) eating them. I closed my eyes and extended my senses to find Darce. He was close. Stationary. When I focused harder, I could feel a second energy. Who's that? If I could feel Darce but not Gray or any of the others, there was only one person this second energy could be.

My mother.

_**Darce:**_

Have to focus..._so close_. They're here, I know it. I could feel _**HER**_. _That crazy bitch that made me like this __**I'll fuckING KILL HER**_. No, had to focus. Left foot, right foot. There we go, just a _little further_. God, _**I can still taste their blood in my mouth**_. I was going to be a writer, back on earth. _My dream job,_ but now I'm living in a story. I'd like to see a pen that's mightier than my kick-ass sword. Of course, I don't _have a sword __**BECAUSE OF HER**_. Have to calm down. I have Aut. Aut can hold up to 15 rounds. I carry four extra mags on me at all times, meaning I have 75 bullets on my person. Breath in, breath out. I can see the building. I knocked on the door as calmly as I could.

"Puck? You're a day late! What happened?" I almost believed that was real worry in Mab's voice. If I hadn't taken a tour of her graymatter, I would've been fooled completely.

She ushered me inside. Lily was sharpening Timebo in a table, and a few grunts were guarding the inside.

"Ran into some complications." I semi-growled

"Oh, my god! You're soaked in blood!"

"Not mine. You should see the other guys."

I was barely restraining myself from ripping her throat out right there and then. But I needed to tell her something first, so she would understand. I didn't know why, but I had to.

"Where's Gray?" She asked impatiently.

"_**Mimes, in the form of God on high,**_"

She blinked, confused.

"What?"

"_**Mutter and mumble low,**_

_**And hither and thither fly,**_

_**Mere puppets, they who come and go.**_"

"That's the-" Mab cut herself off, realizing what I was saying, "Oh, god…"

"_**It writhes!-It writhes!-With mortal pangs,**_

_**The mimes…**_" I looked her dead in the eye, "_**...Become its food.**_"

_**She drew Red Death immediately.**_

_**Swipe. Dodge. Guard. Claw. Blood.**_

_**Bite. Meat. Dead. Next. Screaming.**_

_**Buzzing. Whirring. Bad small noises.**_

_**Zap. Down. Claw. Yelling. Snap. Dead.**_

_**Next. Guns. Bang bang bang. Run. Jump.**_

_**Swipe. Claw. Dead. Dead. Throat. Warm.**_

_**Dead. All Dead. Except them.**_

_**Door. Bang. New meat. **__No, not meat._

_Brother. _Son. Friends. Blake. _Blake? __**BLAKE!**_

_**Jump. Slash. Roar. Screams. Scythe. Guns.**_

_**Shadow. Want blood. Run. Claws. Metal.**_

_**Zap. Dodge. Legs. Bang. Wounded. Losing.**_

_**Need food. Small one. Smells like strawberries.**_

_**Big scythe. Disarm. Block. Zap. Drop. Lunge.**_

_**Burning. HOT HOT HOT. Red eyes. Talking shadow.**_

_**Leg burned. Not fast anymore. Can't dodge. Coming in for kill. Going to die.**_

_**Black wall. Talking wall. Shifting wall. Small person. Touching my arm.**_

_**Slash. No cut. Talking in head. Words and words and words.**_

'_Darce, I know you're in here somewhere. Come on, SPEAK DAMMIT!_'

_**Darkness…**_

_**Gray:**_

"Will he be alright?" I asked Puck.

"Nothing a good night's sleep won't fix." He said in his new form.

He looked much more human than the last time I saw him like this. He could probably pass as a ten year old kid if not for the fact that his arms looked like they belonged to a Beowolf.

"How long until he wakes up?"

"Only a few moments, but he should be relatively sane."

"Good, everyone out. I need to speak with him alone."

No one protested. When they were gone it was just Darce, me,and the corpses. I could see the bite marks on the bodies. He' done it again. He stirred and woke slowly. Then he sat up and saw what he'd done and puked all over the floor.

"Oh, god, not again, not again." He whimpered to himself, then seemed to realize I was there.

"Darce, we need to talk."

He drew his knees up to his chest and looked at the floor.

"I've killed about a dozen people now. In cold blood. Then I...I ate them, Gray. I fucking _ate_ them. Leave it to Mab to turn me into a ghoul, eh?"

"None of that was your fault, Darce-"

"I was going to eat Ruby. If Yang hadn't stopped me, I would've. And, in that moment, I would've enjoyed it."

"But it's over now."

"No! It isn't! I'm getting over what Blake did, but what happens the next time?!"

"_If_ there's a next time."

"Oh, grow up, Gray! Trusting people not to hurt you? How stupid can you get?!"

There is was again. That black flicker in his eyes.

"Aw, not with this misanthropic crap again! I thought you got over that when we landed here, amongst other things."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"It means that I've never even _once_ heard you come up with a plan to get back home!"

"Because there's no feasible way-"

"Cut the bullshit, Darce! Admit it, _you gave up on going home the moment you saw the moon!_"

"_**AND IS THAT SO WRONG!?**_" He shouted back, his eyes were now a solid black, "_**All my life, I was the one on the sidelines! I was never anyone's first choice! Not like you, the one who could make friends in an empty house, the one who could play any instrument and draw anything given five minutes! All I've ever been good at is eating, sleeping, spacing off, and writing! Then I started binge eating and got insomnia, and all I had left was writing shitty stories. And never, not once, did you ever notice how it all ate away at me! But here? I can kill a room full of trained soldiers with my bare hands! I can cast illusions and become a shadow!...**_" He suddenly stopped mid-rant, turned to me, and got an odd determined expression, "_**I can sprint ten feet faster than you can flare your aura or call for help.**_"

It was true. We both knew he was more than fast enough to tear my throat out before I could use any of Scorpion's functions if I wasn't careful. Luckily, I had a plan. I just hoped it worked, or my neck was literally at stake

_**Puck:**_

Lily was still alive, I could feel her. I was scanning the area for her when that feeling of being watched suddenly rushed back with a vengeance. The most distracting part about it was that I kept feeling like whoever was watching me was behind some kind of veil, if I could just remove it I would be able to see them and know who was stalking me and why. I wonder if the others get this feeling, or maybe I could only sense it because I lived on a different plane of existence then the rest. Or I was just crazy, that's also a possibility. I tried to focus on the veil between me and the watchers, feeling my grasp on it tighten. When I felt I had a firm enough grasp of it I tore it away and saw-

Oh…

Oh wow.

Well, hello there…

_**What did Puck see? What's Gray's plan? Will Ruby ever admit her feelings to Weiss?! WILL DARCE MAKE IT TO THE DANCE?! Find out, next week on-**_

_**Oh, wait, I already did that one…**_

_**Anyway, you've probably followed, fav'd, and reviewed if you've read to this point. If not, shame on you. Moving on, if you have any thoughts or suggestions, don't be afraid to send me a PM.**_

_**AND I'LL SEE YOU BEAUTIFUL SHITS NEXT WEEK! YES, MALCOLM, EVEN YOU! LATER!**_


	33. I'm on the horns

**_Hello, wonderful readers! Welcome to the next chapter of my best and only story! I do so hope you enjoy it, as I will be introducing an odd twist here and there._**

Ch. 29: I'm on the horns

_**Puck:**_

And then I saw them…

I saw you. And you. And you.

Hello.

So, Into the Glyph? Weird name for a story, but that's rwbyfan5's business. Or, rather, Darce's, I suppose. Darce is such an odd name. I never really thought about that until I just figured out he basically gave it to himself. But you're not here to read about me rambling on and getting all meta on you, you're here for a story. Well, not all of you, but most. God, I feel like a teacher giving a lecture to the world's largest classroom. A lot of you aren't even reading this at the same time, I can see the first person to open this chapter at the same time as the last. Some of you are even re-reading this, I can see several versions of the same person in some of your cases. Wow, I say "Let's get on with the story" and immediately side-track myself. As you can see, I'm a lot worse at this whole "narration" thing when I'm aware I'm doing it. rwbyfan5 -you know what, I'm just going to call him Fan- should really switch narrators now, before I throw this whole fic completely off the rails. I don't think I'll be doing it much anymore, I've become one of those "fourth-wall breaking" characters. Bye for now!

_**Gray:**_

For a moment, I prayed that plan A would work and Darce would just rush at me, because if he didn't, I would have to resort to plan B. Then I remembered I was an atheist and therefore shouldn't be praying. Oh well, I should be focusing on Darce anyway. I noticed subtle shifts in his appearance right before he attacked. His eyes were solid black, they did that sometimes when he got really, really, _really_, pissed. His features were more angular, his arms and legs thinner. He was hesitating, still trying to control himself. Unfortunately, I needed him angry. I tried to give him that extra nudge by activating Scorpion and taking a fighting position. His expression, previously a pained frown, now turned into a snarl. He took a runner's position and looked like he was about to just lunge at me right there and then, but at the last second he used his semblance to cover the entire room in black smoke and ran out of my field of vision. Now he was hidden, fighting the urge to kill and probably eat me, and I had to somehow get my hands around him.

Just. Fucking. Perfect.

"Guys!" I called out, "Plan B!"

Weiss and Ruby were probably going to kill me if this worked. They'd probably resurrect me just to kill me themselves if this failed. The fact that Yang had the camera feature of her scroll at the ready wasn't going to help.

_**Flashback, airship to Vale, several minutes ago:**_

"_That's_ plan B!?" Weiss fumed, a deep blush covered her normally pale face.

"Essentially." I replied with as straight a face as I could manage.

There was a long silence, then Yang burst out laughing. And she continued laughing until she was slapped upside the head by the heiress.

"YANG, this is NO time for your perverse antics! You put Gray up to this, didn't you!?"

Yang tried to get enough breath to answer, but I did instead.

"No, Weiss, this is a legitimate plan. No matter what, Darce is still the second fastest person here, and can out-maneuver Ruby. We need a way to slow him down without damaging him. Puck, this should work, right?"

"_In theory._" He replied, "_When I was under the same spell as Darce, I could only really process violence. Seeing something like this from a third-party perspective would shock his system enough to stop him in his tracks._"

"Alright." Weiss relented, "But why us, specifically?"

"_Well, if it involved Blake, it could only make matters worse. And Darce is 90% sure Yang and Gray are 'boning'._"

Yang's laughter stopped.

"Why would he think that?" She asked.

"Well, you're hot, I'm hot. What, you think I'm too good for you?" I said, giving her mock sexy-eyes, wiggly eyebrows, and a coy grin. Yang rolled her own eyes in response, I had no doubt in my mind that she'd heard thousands of similar pick-up lines. I didn't care.

This caused Ruby to chuckle a bit, and I realized it was the first sound she made since I explained plan B.

_**Present:**_

The others filed in one by one and examined the dark cloud surrounding us.

"Smart." Puck said out loud, "He's using the natural darkness of the room to hide himself instead of illusions."

"Why's that smart?" Ruby asked.

"Because if he used illusions, we could just say 'there is no dark mist' and it would go away."

"Damn, that means he keeps his intelligence even while in Hannibal Lecter mode. Alright, fan out. We need to find him before we can spring our trap. Here, kitty kitty."

"Who's Hannibal Lecter?" Blake asked.

"Not important." I took a moment to look around what little of the room I could see.

I knew that the building we were in was an abandoned warehouse (I know, real original) so he could be hiding in the rafters or behind crates. Darce's disadvantage was that he couldn't see through this blackness any better than we could, so he would be somewhere where he could observe us. Or he'd ran away, in which case we were screwed. Wait a minute…

"Puck, can you still sense him?"

"Hold on…" He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, then snapped them back open and yelled, "Gray! Above you!"

I quickly rolled out of the way just in time. Darce landed in the spot I'd stood in just fractions of a second before. He growled in annoyance and glared at us, but seemed to wait for us to make a move first.

"Ruby...Weiss," I said slowly, "Plan B."

_**Darce:**_

_**Missed. Pray frozen. Talking.**_

_**Red one stuttering. Wolf ordering.**_

_**Red one and White one...blushing?**_

_**Red one's guard is down. Looking at floor.**_

_**White one irritated. Grabs Red one. They..**__.Kiss? The fuck? I'm attacking them and they kiss?_

I think back to the last conversation I had with them. Neither gave any indication that they were involved romantically, or even interested in such things.

_Gray suddenly moves, but I'm distracted and don't react fast enough. __**Hands on throat.**_

_**Choking me. No, not choking, just holding.**_

_**Pain. Light. Darkness.**_

_**Gray:**_

I'd finally done it. I was able to do the light thing I'd done to Puck. Darce was back to normal now. I hope. I picked him up and turned to see Weiss staring daggers at me.

"Um...It worked." I defended.

Weiss just huffed and stormed out.

Yeah, she totally had a crush right back at Ruby. But they're both blind idiots, so neither saw how little resistance or fakeness went into the kiss. I fell into step next to Yang.

"You got that on camera, right?" I asked.

She flashed me a grin and nodded.

"I now have blackmail material on the heiress of the biggest company on Remnant. I'm feeling pretty good about myself right now. Plus you just _know_ they're crushing hard on each other."

"Oh, yeah. Big time. It's so weird how everyone sees it but them."

"I know, right? I asked Ruby about it while you guys were running around Darce's noggin and she tried to deny it! Stuttered like hell while doing it, though."

"So, is Ruby a lesbian, bisexual, or what?"

"I don't think even she knows." Yang shook her head in good-natured exasperation.

"...G...ray…" Darce's voice was hoarse.

I shifted him so I was carrying him bridal style so I could see his face.

"Darce, you okay?"

"Gray…" His eyes opened a fraction, "Do...you…"

"Do I what?"

"...want to….build a…..snowman?"

I stopped in my tracks and stared blankly at him for a few moments. Then dropped I him on his head, knocking him out again, and walked away. Yang picked him up and the others gave me a confused expression. I simply kept walking without turning back.

"What was that about?" Blake asked.

"He's the world's biggest asshole that gets off on referencing bad songs and movies that he knows I hate, that's what." I replied.

_**Darce, next day, medical ward:**_

My eyes didn't want to open, and I couldn't find the energy to persuade them otherwise, so I laid in an unfamiliar bed for what seemed like an eternity while in a kind of half awake dream-state. I felt a warm presents next to me that was probably either Gray or one of the girls from RWBY. I heard the click-click of heels as someone entered the room I was in. I felt a tingle run down my spine and knew whoever this was wasn't a friend. Mab and Lily don't wear heels, and I doubted it was Mercury. That left Emerald, Cinder, and Neo. Neo wasn't likely, and Cinder usually didn't do dirty work herself. Emerald seemed like the kind of criminal I could just pay off. I felt relief flood through me, until I remembered that she probably held a grudge against Gray. Fuck.

I struggled and finally opened my eyes. Unlike my assumptions, it was Cinder. That still wasn't good, but she seemed like a more..._reasonable_ brand of sociopath.

"Hello. We meet again, Darce."

I tried to sit up, but I quickly learned that I was restrained to the bed.

"Oh, please, don't trouble yourself. I just came to propose a little arrangement." She said in a sickenly sweet tone.

Arrangement? That was bad guy code for either bribery or blackmail. I didn't like where this was going already.

"And what would that be?" I said slowly.

I didn't understand. I was vulnerable, tied down with my vital arteries and organs open to attack. Why waste time and effort on this instead of killing me? She could end this with a single slash of her sword or shot with her bow. It made no sense. Cinder pulled out a vial of a dark red liquid.

"Earlier today, some poor men were brutally killed. The killer even ate parts of them. When the police found them, they were nothing but scraps of bone and meat. Though, there was a rather large puddle of vomit that they think is the killer's. Unfortunately for Vale's finest, the DNA didn't match any of their data bases. Now, I wonder what they'd discover if I sent them a vial of this blood? Of course, it's yours, so they probably won't find anything, but you never can be too careful."

Ah, so blackmail it is. Though, I don't think she would've gotten anywhere with bribery.

"Please, spare me the sadistic foreplay you manipulative-type criminal masterminds seem to enjoy so much and just get to the point."

She frowned a bit at this, but continued.

"Ozpin has me and my team under investigation because your brother outed us. You will reassure him that he has nothing to fear from us and go to any lengths necessary to make sure he never suspects us again. In return, no one will _ever_ connect you to _any_ of the murders you committed, deal?"

Considering her position, this was a very generous offer. With what she had, she could demand a whole lot more than what she was asking for now. There was just one problem.

"And what if I'm willing to go to jail in order to see you go down with me?"

"Then you go to jail. Of course, you wouldn't just be on death row for several murders plus the..._desecration_ of their bodies, you'd be responsible for one more death…"

With that she pulled out a black sword. In that moment I realized, with a sensation of almost complete detachment, that I was also willing to die right here and now. But she didn't point it at me, she pointed it at Gray's sleeping form next to me. So he was the warm presents I felt earlier, he'd stayed to watch my recovery. Then I noticed he had Scorpion on and at the ready. He wasn't here to make sure I was okay, he was here to make sure I didn't eat anymore people. He was also probably the one that bound me to the bed.

'_Love you to, bro._' I thought sarcastically.

With a start I remembered Cinder was aiming a sword at him. If I said no, she'd not only kill him, but carve up his corpse and frame me for it. Gray would no longer be around to accuse her and any accusations from me would either be dismissed as crazy-talk or a desperate attempt at a lightened sentence.

"So," She said, snapping me out of my horrified thoughts, "What will it be?"

**_Well, shit, this can't end well, can it? I guess you'll just have to figure out in the next chapter!_**

**_Also, I'm looking for a new cover for this story, so any and all fan art would be really, really, REALLY, appreciated. (Gray said he'd draw me something, but it never happened. Go figure.)_**

**_Anyway, don't forget to follow, fav, and review. If you have any thoughts or suggestions, go right ahead and PM me. See ya next week!_**


	34. I ask out

_**Hello, lovelies! I'm here to give you guys another dose of ITG. Be warned, the feels are coming.**_

_**(And to W1ll3r, I said I'd use an OC you gave me, like, three months ago and I never did. Just wanted to say sorry, it slipped my mind, I'll try and give him a cameo the moment I figure out where to put him.)**_

Ch. 30: I ask out

_**Gray:**_

That bitch was honestly holding my life hostage when she thinks I'm sleeping? Hohoho, no, she's got another thing coming. I stealthily unlatched Darce's restraints while continuing to pretend to be asleep. I can feel him tense up then relax. Time to play a game…

_**Darce:**_

Of course Gray wasn't really sleeping, that would make too much sense. Not that I'm complaining. I gave Cinder a slow smile.

"Before I agree to anything, could you please repeat all of that so I can make sure I know all of the specifics?"

She furrowed her eyebrows, obviously not expecting that reaction.

"Simple, you tell the headmaster to stop investigating me and my team and I won't kill your brother then go to the police with DNA evidence that you killed a dozen people earlier today."

"What evidence?" I asked innocently.

She opened her mouth to speak, then she realized there was no vial in her hands. Well, there was, but she couldn't see it. Her grip on the vial loosened to the point where it fell out of her hands and smashed into the floor. While she stared at the puddle that suddenly appeared, I discreetly unlatched my left hand with my already freed right. When Cinder looked up to glare at me, I continued to smile innocently, still "secured" to the bed.

"Gray, tell me you got all of that." I said.

Gray lifted his head and revealed his scroll.

"Every word."

Cinder seemed to be stunned for a moment, then pulled out her other sword.

"Well, now I'll just have to kill both of you." She hissed.

I was unarmed, but Cinder didn't know that. I created the illusion of Gemini in my hands as I leapt off of the bed. I took a moment to appreciate my semblance. Illusions may have no inherent lethal potential, but they sure came in handy when you needed to pretend to be more prepared than you were. Hell, they came in great use when you needed to bullshit your way out of any situation. I could honestly act like I had any semblance known to man. I could easily fake Yang's semblance, or Weiss', etc. Anyway, Cinder stood with her swords at the ready, and we were now in some kind of two-on-one stand off. Gray wasn't having any of this, and cocked Scorpion.

"I know you can deflect bullets, but let's see how well you do against rockets."

She seemed to think for a moment, then got a wide smile.

"Alright, let's try this deal then." She sneared and pulled out some kind of metallic cylinder. She popped off the top with her thumb to reveal a big red button.

Oh, shit, that's never good.

"I have the main building rigged with bombs. I'm guessing you know what _this_ does then."

"Oh...shit." Gray mirrored my thoughts.

"Indeed. Each of my team has a detonator, if you don't call off the headmaster and delete that recording, that whole building goes up in flames. Do we understand each other _now_?"

The awful part was I didn't know if she was bluffing or not. This could be something that had been planned for a future Volume, or something caused by either our or Mab's interference. Too many variables told me she was telling the truth. Dammit, where's Puck when I need him? Gray and I shared a glance before nodding and putting away our weapons.

"Deal."

_**Gray, the next morning:**_

I felt like shit when I woke up, I could see that Darce felt the same way when he got up to use the bathroom. We had given the rest of our team the low-down on what happened when we got back to the dorm, and now we were shuffling to the cafeteria to do the same with the rest of our friends.

"We need to find some way to warn Ozpin without Cinder knowing." Darce said as we walked.

"We can go to his office and tell him."

Darce shook his head.

"Cinder's obviously got his room bugged. How else would she have known that you specifically were the one to rat her out? You think Ozpin told her? No, his office is bugged."

"Shit, I didn't even think of that…."

We thought in silence all the way to our table with breakfast in hand.

"Hey guys. You look...down." Yang commented.

Translation: We look as bad as we feel.

"Yeah, we had a bit of an eventful night." I started.

We explained the whole thing. Cinder, her attempt at blackmail, us almost capturing her, and the bombs. Everyone looked at us in silent panic when we finished.

"My god…" Weiss whispered.

"Where was Puck?!" Yang asked.

"_I was in the training field, testing out my newfound control over my semblance. I thought Gray had Darce secured. I'm sorry, I should've stayed._" Puck apologized from the floor next to Darce.

"Well, if you can make bodies now, then get up here." I said. It always creeped me out when we would completely forget his existence and he'd just pop into the conversation, something that I hoped would be rectified when he had an actual physical presents.

Two black lumps appeared out of Darce's shadow and stretched out skyward. Once they got about hip level, they joined at the tips and continued growing into a thicker mass. When it reached shoulder level, it split off into three parts. Now that it had a humanoid shape, hair started to form, short, black, and spiked upward. Next was clothes, starting with a white t-shirt that was quickly covered by an unzipped collared black fleece jacket. Then formed jeans and combat boots. The black flesh began to fade into a pale white.

The last touch was the face, he looked enough like Darce where you could tell they were related, but not enough to mistake them for each other. For a moment it just sat there like a puppet with no strings, then Puck seemed to absorb into it and its eyes fluttered open. He stretched his new muscles and cleared his throat. When we all stared in stunned silence, he awkwardly sat down between Darce and me.

"So...yeah, I can do that now." He said and nervously scratched the back of his neck.

"That...took a lot longer than the other two times I've seen you do that. Why?" I asked.

"Well, the other two times were emergencies. Plus they were really crude bodies, they had a really short lifespan. Took me forever to figure out how to keep them alive for more than ten minutes, only problem is they take a long time to make when I'm doing it properly. So, I can't really be of much help in a surprise ambush or something like that. But if we have, like, a half-hour to prepare, I could probably make a really big body in that time. In two hours I could make a body about the size of Ozpin's clock tower. It makes sense when you consider that, if I become way too OP, the story loses a lot of its appeal. So, I have to have some kind of drawback."

"What?" Weiss questioned.

"Nothing, just a joke I stole from UknownHero."

"Who?" Ruby asked.

"No one. Anyway, weren't we talking about bombs or something?" Puck continued.

"Oh, right! Yeah, we need to figure out how to fix this whole mess." I said, bringing us back onto topic.

We were all silent for a bit, thinking. I looked around the table to gauge everyone's expressions, but they all looked as at a loss as Darce and me. Except Blake, who was looking at Darce with a worried face. When I saw him, I grew worried to. He was staring blankly at his tray of untouched food, like he was zoned out. His face seemed more pensive than thoughtful. I glanced over to his tail, which always betrayed his mood. It was firmly wrapped around his waist like a belt, which he only did when scared or nervous.

"Darce?" I tried to get his attention.

No response. This got the attention of the others, who were now mirroring Blake's expression.

"Darce?" This time I tried putting a hand on his shoulder.

Darce jumped so high that his knees slammed into the table and rattled all the plates and trays.

"Hm-what?" He asked, his voice still jittery by whatever had distracted him.

"What's wrong? You don't usually get so jumpy."

"What? No, it's nothing, I'm fine. Just didn't get a lot of sleep last night." He tried to cover up, but Puck's nose immediately wrinkled.

"That's a lie. Not the sleep part, but the part where you said your fine. Darce, don't make me go into your head and pull out what's bugging you."

'_Oh, god,_' I internally cursed, '_Not MORE drama!_'

"No, really. Everything's fine." He continued.

He tried to end the conversation by eating his breakfast, but the moment he tried to shovel some ham, the fork froze before it could enter his mouth. Darce looked at the morsel with another thousand yard stare before setting it back down on his plate and pushing it away.

"I'm just not hungry. I'll catch you guys later, I'm going to go to the library. To study." With that, he was gone before anyone could protest.

There was a long silence as we all processed what just happened. Finally, Puck spoke up.

"He lied again." He said simply.

"Which part?" I asked.

"Most of it. Not being hungry, being fine, and going to the library to study."

"How can you tell?" Weiss asked.

"I don't know exactly how it works, but I can kind of smell things like that. Nothing too complex, but I can smell emotions, deeds, people, and lies. I have to say, out of all of them, lies smell the worst."

"Cool." Ruby commented.

"Yeah. Hey, where's Blake?" Yang asked.

_**Darce:**_

I don't know how much longer I could keep this up. I couldn't even look at food without remembering. The rush of memories came with sensations I didn't want to feel and images I didn't want to see.

I was sitting on the student dorm building's roof, knees tucked against my chest and arms wrapped tightly around my legs. I was so distracted that for a while I didn't even notice Blake when she sat next to me, legs dangling off the edge. When I finally came to, I looked over at her and our eyes met briefly, before I looked away and towards the rising sun.

"Sorry, Blake, pity party's at its full capacity of one."

"Darce, don't."

"Don't what? Use humor to mask my pain in order to spare those closest to me? Now, why would I do that?"

"Sarcasm counts to." She quipped back.

"Now you're just being a pity party pooper. Three 'p's and you're out."

"Darce, I'm being serious."

"Really? 'Cause I'm not."

"I can see that. Laughing at the pain will only last you so long, you need to open up to _someone_."

"Someone meaning you?"

"If you want."

"Well, I _don't_ want."

"That's fine." She said.

When she didn't move for the next few minutes I glanced over at her. She was looking toward the horizon over the Emerald Forest, her expression neutral. I sighed.

"Are you just going to sit here until I leave?"

"Yes. You helped me when I was having problems, now I'm here to return the favor whether you like it or not."

"Great." I replied in a deadpan voice.

"So, are you going to talk or are we just going to sit here?"

I said nothing for a while, but then the words just seemed to force their way out of my mouth. I told her everything: RWBY the web series, how Gray and I found ourselves on Remnant, Ozpin's knowledge of us, my temporary death, the Travellers, Mab and Lily, and finally my memories of what Gray had dubbed my "Hannibal Lector Mode" (With a brief description of who Hannibal Lector was). I left nothing out, and Blake simply listened silently, nodding here and there to indicate she was listening. When I was done, we were already well into the afternoon.

"That's everything. I'm sure a lot of it made no sense to you, and that's probably for the best, but that's all of it. You now know everything."

I had to admit, I did feel a lot better now that I'd gotten it all off of my chest. I turned my head to thank Blake for listening to me blather on like that, but the words died in my throat when I realized how close her face was to mine. I was about to scoot away when Blake leaned in. My brain didn't process what she was doing for a moment. My thought's turned into something like:

'_Wow, her face is really close now. It's really hard to talk with her mouth there… Wait...is she…? ….Oohh…..._'

And then I just closed my eyes and stopped thinking for a while. It was my first kiss. When I returned to my senses, I pulled away. Blake's eyes opened and scanned my face to gauge my reaction.

"Blake…" I started, "I'm happy that you return my feelings but…."

"You're not in the right mindset for a relationship. I understand." She finished all too quickly.

I felt guilty for doing this to Blake, but it was the truth. If I was going to be with her, I had to sort out the rest of my demons first.

"Oh, goddammit! I CALL BULLSHIT!" Cried an angry voice from behind us.

We turned to see Gray climb over the other side of the roof with the rest of the group in tow, even Murphy, Aries, and team JNPR.

"You two need to stop dancing around each other! I swear to god, I've had to deal with your guy's sexual tension for months now! Darce, ask her out to the fucking dance right now or I'll-" Yang put a hand over Gray's mouth to stop the threat.

"Seriously, though, you two are cute and the dance is tonight." She finished for him.

"Though, for once, I have to agree with the mutt: You two need to date already." Weiss added and everyone else nodded nodded.

Wait, THE DANCE IS TONIGHT?! Crap, I completely forgot! I turned to Blake. I didn't know what to say. I had two voices battling in my head.

'_Just ask her out! Your problems will be much easier to face WITH her instead of WITHOUT her!_'

'_No! She'll see the monster inside you and run screaming!_'

'_No she won't! Blake is a kind and understanding person, did the last hour and a half not prove that?_'

'_You'll just end up hurting her!_'

I shut up the two voices and made up my mind for once in my life.

"Uh…." That didn't mean it fixed my social awkwardness or confidence issues, "Blake, would you….um, do me the honor of maybe going to the dance with me later today?"

"Darce, are you sure?" She asked.

'_She thinks I'm asking out of peer pressure._' I realized.

I took a deep breath and nodded with as confident a smile as I could manage. She smiled back.

"Then I would love to."

_**So, a bit of drama, a dash of angst, and a….nice fluffy ending? Yes, even I can decide to throw myself a freakn' bone. I'm totally not setting up a "calm before the storm" situation or anything, that'd….that'd just be crazy. Ha...ha...yeah, crazy.**_

_**Anyway, don't forget to follow, fav, and review. If you have any thoughts or suggestions feel free to send a PM my way. I'll see you guys in the next chapter!**_


	35. I make another deal

_**In which I write myself out of a corner.**_

_**What's this? Mab is going to narrate the start of the chapter? She must have some incredibly important plot related things to say if we're not just skipping ahead to the dance! Maybe. People have been PMing me to involve her more, so here she is.**_

Ch. 31: I make another deal

_**Mab:**_

My face really wasn't made for scowling, but today I just couldn't help it. Somehow Darce had regained his memories and come back for revenge. Luckily I'd made sure to install a warning system when I had Lily put that booby-trap. I always had plans within my plans, it was how I'd survived for so long in this place.

Lily looked over to me and noticed my sour mood. Usually she'd just keep to herself, but not this time.

"So, you turn your pet into a full-fledged monster, and then you take it personally when he tries to eat you? Just let it go. Besides, it's not like he'd be the first."

"Can it, Lilith."

"_Lily_."

"Whatever. It was a damn good plan, and you know it. It just didn't work out."

"Too bad, to. After all this time, you finally find your 'Oberon', and then you lose him."

"There's always next time."

"If he's anything like his brother, he wouldn't touch you with a ten foot stick unless it was to knock you out."

"No, not him." I pause, remembering that day, "He's like me, I could see it in his eyes when he handled Red Death. That spark I've never seen in anyone before. The whip came alive like a sensual snake, ready to obey."

I stopped, realizing that I was gushing. God, I've never done that before. Lily raised an eyebrow, obviously thinking something similar. I changed the subject.

"What do you think they're doing now?"

Lily shrugged.

"Probably planning and preparing for Cinder's attack on the CCT Tower. That's what I'd be doing in their shoes. It's not like they have the time or energy to go to some dance, anyway."

_**Darce:**_

"Okay, Darce." I said to myself in the mirror, "You can do this."

I cleared my throat and put on a wide smile.

"Hey there Blake, wanna dance?" I dropped the smile, "No, too carefree. I trusted her with the whole story, I need something with weight." I thought for a while, then put the smile back up, "So, Blake, would you please do me the honor of sharing a dance with me?"

"Oh dear god, just stop already." Gray groaned from outside the bathroom, his voice slightly muffled by the door, "You got her to go with you, I doubt she's just going to stand around the whole time. You're overthinking it."

I took a deep breath and realized he was right. I was just being stupid and needed to relax. I walked out and sat at the edge of my bed, pulling a book out of a shelf to calm myself. I was already dressed for the dance, which was a half hour from now. I had on a black button up with a muted dark blue vest and a white bowtie. Because bowties are cool. My hair was freshly washed and combed with a small flare upward, just enough to be noticeable and not look like Jimmy Neutron. I was just starting to get into the book when there was a knock on my door. When I answered it I found Ozpin on the other side.

"Oh, hello, headmaster. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I've come to collect you and your brother for that interview with General Ironwood. Don't worry, you should be finished by the time the dance starts and he'll be conducting the interview from a holographic projection to avoid any..._incidents_ like last time."

"Um, actually, would you mind if we talked for a moment first?"

"Of course." He stepped into the dorm and I closed the door behind him.

"Sir, I would just like to start this by asking you to let me finish before asking any questions."

And then I told him about Cinder and the bombs, Gray helping to fill any details I missed. When we finished, Ozpin stood in silence for a moment before speaking.

"Firstly, you have nothing to fear from the Vale police department, Mr. Forge. You were under the influence of a mind-bending semblance and cannot be held responsible for your actions. I'll personally see to it that the whole mess is taken care of later today. Secondly, I can assure you there are no bombs on the school grounds or bugs in my office. Since students here have ample supplies to make such things, we do daily sweeps for explosives and other harmful devices. Lastly, I would like to commend both of you for how you handled the situation with the information you had."

Despite his praise, I couldn't help but feel like an idiot. I'd been played like a harp. But his words brought up two questions.

"If that's true, then how did she know that Gray was the one to tip you off? And why would Cinder just be carrying around a detonator?"

"Those would be the questions that need answered, now wouldn't they? Ah, well, we should get going. Wouldn't want the general to worry." He said, re-opening the door and leading us back to his office.

When we entered, we saw a holographic projection of Ironwood waiting patiently.

"Ah, there you are, I was beginning to think you'd run off again." The general said in what was probably meant as a light and friendly tone, but came out as annoyed.

"Sorry, sir, my brother here just seems to find trouble and adventure in the strangest of places." Gray said, matching the general's tone.

"Indeed. You told my good friend Ozpin that he has important information." Ironwood replied.

"Yes sir, I do." I spoke up, "What I'm about to tell you is impossible, ludicrous, and entirely true."

_**Nox, Somewhere else:**_

"Well, this will definitely put a wrench in things. I was hoping Cinder or Mab would find a way to resolve this."

"What do we do about it?"

"We have to change something."

"Like what? Erase Darce's memory of the show and make it so Ozpin never knew the two are from a different dimension?"

"No, his knowledge is what adds the right flare to this whole thing. We do that as a last resort."

"Why don't we just do what we did last time and give Darce a huge headache again?"

"They'll find a way eventually. We need something more permanent."

"What if we threaten him?"

"No, he might try and retaliate."

"Then I don't know what to do."

"And that, honey, is why you have _me_."

"What will you do?"

"Blackmail and threats won't work, so why not bribe him?"

"With what?"

"I think I have just the thing. This situation, and his life, need a woman's touch."

With that, Nox made a white room and put Darce in it. Lumen left her to her work.

"Where am I?"

"In a white room just outside of the universes."

"Why am I here?"

"One of life's great mysteries."

"I _meant_ why am I-"

"I'm just kidding, dear. You're here because I have a deal to make with you."

"What, like Cinder's deal? No thanks, not interested."

"You should really hear me out before you say that. I only want to give you a gift in exchange for something."

"...Fine, what?"

"In exchange for keeping quiet about Cinder and all the rest to anyone of authority, I can keep you in the plot of the show."

"...What does that mean?"

"Tomorrow, you will go on a mission with your team. It won't be Mountain Glenn, because team RWBY will go there. You'll be stuck elsewhere as the Breach happens. I can alter everyone's minds to simply group you and your brother with them, or change the records to say that you two are official add-ons to the team. There'd be no name change to team RWBY, but you'd always travel with them."

"..."

"You'd never have to be separated from Blake. If you want, I can even change the dorm arrangements so you can room with them and change everyone's perception so no one questions it. And if you ever need to talk about what you know, I'll give you permission to tell Blake whatever you want about the show."

"..."

"Take your time. Time is frozen here, so you literally have an eternity to decide."

"...There's always a catch. What happens if I say no?"

"Then I wipe your mind and get my way anyway. I'm being nice."

"What happens to Murphy and Aries?"

"They become official add-ons to team JNPR."

"...And no one would question anything?"

"No one. Ozpin will still know you're from another dimension, as will Blake, Murphy, Aries, and of course Puck, but he'll forget about Cinder, as will everyone else but you, Gray, Blake, and Puck."

"So, move in with the girl I've been crushing on for months now and always be around her, or have my mind wiped?"

"That's the gist of it."

"..."

"Take your time, no rush."

"...*sigh*...Fine."

"Good choice."

And Darce stopped existing in the room, moved to his school's cafeteria with Gray.

"Well, that was entertaining at least. I just love messing with Lumen's champions."

Before Nox resumed time, she set to work on all that she promised. Dozens of minds, documents, and records were tweaked, two rooms were expanded, and, because he'd been such a good sport, Darce's appearance was spit-polished for the dance and some extra features to his new dorm room were added. Let it never be said that Nox isn't a generous thought-entity. No, seriously, don't say it, else shit gets fucked.

_**Darce:**_

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuckity fuck-fuck.

Now Cinder was free to do whatever the fuck she wants. I know that for the short-term, everyone's safe. But what about the big picture? Cinder's plan involved taking away power somehow, what if she ends up killing someone? I could definitely see Rooster Teeth killing off one of the main cast, but which one? Under normal circumstances, I'd say someone like Neptune, but he doesn't exist anymore.

"Darce, what the hell just happened? Weren't we in Ozpin's office?" Gray asked.

"Yeah. You're gonna want to sit down for this."

_***Transitional sparkly sound* a few minutes later:**_

"Holy shit." Gray said simply, "So I guess that's a no-go on getting rid of the main antagonist."

"Yeah, you can say that."

"So, now we _live_ with team RWBY?"

"Yep." I replied, popping the 'p'.

"And no one's going to say a word?"

"Nope."

"And team AMGD is dissolved?"

"It never existed."

"We're free to tell anyone we're from earth, but not about Cinder?"

"Yep."

"...Oddly enough I have no problems with this."

"Yeah, it's probably best to just accept it and move on."

"Probably."

"Wanna go check out our new dorm?"

"Sure."

We got up and returned to our room. From the moment I opened the door, I could see that Nox hadn't just added our names to RWBY's roster. The room was at least twice the size it'd been yesterday, the beds were actually bunk beds instead of beds stacked on top of each other, the furniture was made with high quality materials, there were comforters and sofas, and it even had a TV.

"Well, I'm certainly feeling much better about that deal. We're going to _live_ in this? It looks like something that belongs in Weiss' mansion!" Gray exclaimed.

"Yeah, I know. We should probably go grab our stuff."

"That shouldn't take too long, we just need a few boxes to load our clothes into. Everything else worth getting is in our lockers,"

"Oh, yeah, speaking of which, remind me to ask Ruby for help making some new weapons after the dance."

"Alright. I'm gonna take a wiz in our new bathroom before we grab our stuff, okay?"

"Sure, just don't take too long."

"Righty-o."

He walked in and I waited by the door. After a few seconds I heard a muffled gasp.

"Darce! There's a FUCKING JACUZZI IN HERE!"

"What, really?!"

"Yeah! Which one did you make the deal with again?"

"Nox!"

"Petition to make Nox our new lord and savior! All hail Nox!"

_**The dance will be next week, I swear. It'll be fluffy and everything, you'll love it.**_

_**So, shit really happened this chapter, eh? I'm honestly just making it up as I go along now.**_

_**Anyway, don't forget to follow, fav, and review. If you have any thoughts or suggestions feel free to send a PM my way. See ya' in the next chapter! All hail Nox!**_


	36. I dance

_**And now, the moment you've all been waiting for, the dance! I'll admit, this one gave me some trouble, but I think I did a good job of mixing filler with actually important plot stuff. Also, Most of you know about Reese Chloris (Team ABRN) from RTX, and the fact that her weapon is a skateboard. I would just like to point out that I CAME UP WITH IT FIRST! (Jack from the Magenta Trailer [Ch. 28])**_

_**That is all.**_

Ch. 32: I dance

_**Gray:**_

I was so relaxed in the jacuzzi that I nearly fell asleep. It was only when Darce banged on the bathroom door that I realized I only had ten minutes to get dressed and ready for the dance. I quickly got out and did so, donning gray pinstripe suit and pants with a white button up and a black bowtie. Because bowties are cool. I hurriedly slicked my hair back and Darce and I dashed to the dance. We burst through the door in as dramatic a fashion as we could.

"We're here!" Darce said.

We paused when we noticed that only Yang Weiss, and a few others were inside.

"Um, where is everyone?"

"Most people show up to these things a few minutes late." Yang answered.

"Oh. So, we just wait?" Darce asked.

"Why would we wait? There's music playing and partners available, just dance when you feel like it."

"Alright, I'm going to get some punch first." I said and did so.

I stood by the punch bowl for a while, a part of me was still trying to process all the events of today. Starting with Darce's PTSD, then Blake apparently finding that hot (not judging), going to the headmaster's office then suddenly finding myself in the cafeteria, time rewriting itself, living with RWBY, then finally the jacuzzi. All of it happening within the span of eight hours. Jesus, when did my life turn into this?

"You alright, there?" Darce asked next to me.

I focused back on reality and realized that Darce, Yang, Weiss, and I were standing in a semi-circle around the punch bowl.

"Yeah, it's just been a long day."

They all nodded in understanding.

"Same here. You would not _believe_ the kind of stress that comes with planning a ball like this." Weiss spoke up.

"I imagine not. So, no date for the famous Weiss Schnee?"

She huffed a bit at that.

"I have no time for silly things like boys, and none approached me."

"Really?" I asked, giving a pointed look at Ruby.

She looked away, blushing. She really is too adorable for her own good, now I have to embarrass her more.

"What about girls?" I continued with a smirk.

Weiss paused at this.

"What about them?"

"None caught your eye or approached you?"

"N-no, of course not. Why would you ask?"

"No reason. You know, there are plenty of partners here that would probably give you a dance if you asked, myself included."

She sent me a hard glare.

"I wouldn't dance with you if you were the last living thing on Remnant."

"Ouch, love you to, Schnee." I said in mock hurt.

Suddenly Darce got a large grin and looked over to Yang, holding out his hand as if she was giving him something. She looked just as confused as the rest of us, even as he rubbed his fingers together.

"We had a bet." Darce clarified.

Now Yang seemed to understand. She looked between Gray and Weiss in horror.

"Wait, no, that doesn't count!" She cried.

"I never said anything about sarcasm, Yang! You owe me 300 lien!" Darce practically screamed in victory.

"What?" Weiss asked.

That's a shit ton of money!

"What bet was worth 300 bucks?!" I exclaimed

"I bet Yang here that you would tell Weiss you loved her by the end of the dance." Darce said in a smug tone.

I was about to question his sanity, but then I realized his logic.

"Oh, you manipulative son of a bitch!" I said proudly and we fist bumped.

"NOO! You're supposed to get angry at him!" Yang demanded.

"Why? He knew I would say it sarcastically to her eventually, but with the dance going on and Weiss having no partner, Darce figured I'd try and needle her about it and she'd snap back. It doesn't really take that much brain power if you know me."

"Yeah," Darce agreed, "You're a pretty predictable person."

I didn't know whether or not to be offended by that, so I decided to ignore it.

"Can I join in?" Asked a new voice to our side. We turned to see Blake, "Or is this party at full capacity?"

_**Darce:**_

I had to hide the nervousness that suddenly took me. The show had made her look alright, but in real life she looked stunning. I took a large gulp of punch to wet my suddenly dry throat. It was like I was meeting her for the first time all over again.

"Har-de-har, Blake." I said when I caught the reference she was making about the talk we'd had earlier today, "We've got plenty of room."

I side stepped a bit to let her take the spot next to me, which she did. I handed her some punch and we stood there for a moment, observing the steadily growing party. When the music picked up, I turned to Blake.

"Wanna dance?" I asked.

She gave me a small grin and walked out onto the dance floor, gesturing for me to follow.

It wasn't anything intimate, at first. It was mostly just us dancing next to each other. But as the music slowed, we followed everyone else's lead and took hold of each other. Then a horrible truth came to my mind.

'..._I have no idea how to dance with a partner..._'

With this realization came a whole butt-load of new anxieties. What if I step on her toes? What if I put my hand to low or it slips? I DON'T WANT TO END UP LIKE THE PROTAGONIST FROM A HAREM ANIME THAT ACCIDENTALLY DOES SOMETHING PERVY! I AM IN A ROOM FULL OF FEMALES THAT CAN AND WILL KICK MY-

"Darce? It's okay if you don't know how to foxtrot, we don't have to dance like everyone else." Blake apparently had seen my fears on my face and quickly tried to reassure me.

And that right there is why I'm so terrified of doing something wrong. Blake was perceptive, kind, and funny, everything I liked in a girl but so much more. You know it's bad when you're attracted to someone's mind and personality as much as their body (which the dress continued to remind me was pretty good, to).

I sent her a reassuring smile.

"No, I'm just a bit nervous."

"Nervous?"

"Yeah, this is my first time dancing with another person."

"It's easy, once you get the hang of it. Here,"

And then we spent the next few minutes going over the basics on how to waltz. After that it was mostly impromptu.

"You're getting pretty good." Blake complimented.

"Thanks, I'm a quick study."

We smiled at each other and just danced to the music. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Gray and Yang sharing a joke, Puck seemed to be having a pleasant conversation with Penny, and Ruby sat next to Weiss on the chairs to the side. But then there was a commotion over by the doors, the sounds of laughter started to drift to the center of the room. We stopped to look and saw Jaune Arc in a dress walking proudly up to Pyrrha and ask her for a dance. To which she, of course, accepted with her own fit of laughter. I cheered when team JNPR went into their dance number and I could see Gray practically dying of asphyxiation with all the laughing he was doing.

'_I just love this scene! I remember when I first watched…...Dance Dance Infiltration..._'

A pang of fear broke through my euphoria. Cinder was going to break into the CCT Tower! I needed to warn someone! I-

No. I looked over at the door to see Ruby leave. Everything is going as it should. I just need to have faith that everything will work out.

_**Mab:**_

"Nothing is working out!" I shouted at no one.

I was practically tearing my hair out trying to figure out a plan to get the Forge brothers back. Our experiment with Darce had proven that the more darkness a person had, the easier Lily could influence them. We could take away his memories and just start that whole process over again, only more closely monitored this time. I'd grown fond of Puck, but he wasn't the real prize. No, the one I wanted was Oberon.

"Evil scheme not going as planned?" Lily asked from behind me.

She always seemed to appear just as I thought my day couldn't get any worse to try and prove me wrong. I would've thought it was her semblance if not for the fact she'd been doing it since we were kids. Needless to say, but we secretly hate each other. We both knew how the other felt, but neither of us ever came out and said it. I'd learned a long time ago that Lily was a certifiable sociopath, she felt absolutely no emotional connection to anyone or guilt for any of her actions. The only things she ever seemed to feel was varying levels of anger and sarcasm. Yes, sarcasm is an emotion.

"No, my evil scheme doesn't exist, that's what's frustrating me." I confided, "I keep trying to find a new angle, but the closest I can get is trying to abduct them when they go to their mission tomorrow. The only problem is, _I have no idea which mission they're going on!_"

"You said that team RWBY will come here, don't you think the Forges will try and weasel their way onto that?"

I bit my lip in thought.

"Maybe, but I don't want to base a plan around a guess."

"Maybe Cinder or one of the others could do some spying tonight?"

"Perhaps. I'll give her a call after midnight, when she's done with the job."

I got up and walked to the door.

"Where are you going?"

"To vent some frustration in the city."

_**Gray:**_

"Hey, Nora, do you realize that Ren is the only one on your team not wearing a dress?" I asked with a wide smile.

Nora seemed to think about that for a moment before mirroring my expression. She turned and grabbed Ren by the elbow.

"I have the perfect dress for you!" She squealed as she dragged the confused ninja away, the music drowning out his quiet protests.

"Oh, bro, that was evil." Darce chuckled.

I was honestly surprised to see how quickly Blake seemed to adjust to their new relationship status. He had one hand on the small of her back and she didn't look like she minded. It might've been the sheer amount of fun we'd been having tonight or something else, but I was expecting a much longer awkward phase. Oh well, I guess we'll find out tomorrow after we get shipped off to bumfuck nowhere on a mission for a few days. I just hoped they wouldn't try and share a sleeping bag. I internally shrugged and poured myself some more punch.

_**Mab:**_

I arrived in Vale on a Bullhead and began searching the alley ways of the city. The mask I had on looked like a steampunk skull. I skulked in the shadows until I found him, my perfect victim. He was young, maybe just two years younger than me. His eyes were wide and innocent, he looked clean and in the peak of health. My perfect victim. His type weren't usually out this late, and he looked like he was rushing home.

He wouldn't make it.

I shot out Red Death and it wrapped around him, pulling him into a dark alley. He screamed, of course, especially when he saw my grinning skull face. I took a moment to enjoy those screams, but I was eager to get to the main course. Now, the only remaining question was: Where to put the cut?

In the end I decided to put it over his cheek, like a kiss. His cries of terror turned into cries of pain, then agony as his blood began to boil, then a combination of all three as his boiling blood started to bleed out of every pore. I watched every second, saw every delicious expression and heard every sound. When he died a half hour later, I used Red Death to scoop out his eyes and put them in his mouth.

When it was all over, I gave a content sigh and walked back to the Bullhead. All the tension and frustration of the day had melted away with the boy's life, and it left me feeling _much_ better.

_**And on that cheery note, I leave you. You would not believe how awkward it is to write a romantic scene when one character is based off of you and the other is fictional. For some reason it feels like...bragging? IDK, just pretend that Darce and Blake are doing cutesy couple stuff like feeding each other bits of food or making out when they're "off-camera".**_

_**Anyway, don't forget to follow, fav, and review. If you have any thoughts or suggestions feel free to send a PM my way. I hope y'all stick around for next chapter!**_


	37. I'm on a mission

_**So, the dance is over, Darce and Blake are dating, and our heroes are receiving their first official mission! So much stuff! Please enjoy!**_

Ch. 33: I'm on a mission

_**Darce:**_

We all rushed to the door the moment Ruby opened it.

"What happened?!" Yang asked immediately.

"Um, well, uh...um, uha." She nervously laugh-stuttered.

She'd told us all about her fight with a "masked woman" last night, and that she was to be questioned today. Of course, Gray and I knew the situation better than her or the headmasters, so we were only really there for support. When Ruby finished telling us about the questioning, Weiss had her arms crossed in concern.

"That was a risky move." She commented.

'_Oh, don't even act like that after you spent all that time pacing around the room and fretting about her._' Puck thought at her in my head.

"No, I think you handled it well." Blake interjected.

Yang put a comforting hand on her sister's shoulders.

"I hope so." Ruby meekly said.

"I'm sure everything will be alright, Ruby. Oh! I know what'll cheer you up!" Yang said and walked over to a brown cylinder on a desk.

"What's that?" Ruby asked.

"I don't know yet. Dad sent it to us, I thought we could open it together."

"Ooh! Something from home!" Ruby squealed, and practically teleported onto Yang's back to try and snatch it, but Yang held it just out of her reach.

The commotion caused the bottom to come off and something black slid out. It shook around on the floor for a bit before popping out and turning into an adorable corgi, staring at us for a second then barked twice. Everyone but Gray and me jumped for various reasons.

"ZWEI!" Ruby cried in joy.

Gray was staring in utter befuddlement, Yang looked happy, Weiss looked disgusted, and Blake jumped back in fear.

"He sent a dog?!" Blake asked.

"In the mail?!" Weiss demanded.

Ruby didn't answer on account of she was holding and cuddling her dog. I was adoringly scratching the top of his head.

"Oh, he does stuff like this all the time." Yang said dismissively.

"Your father or your dog?" Blake asked bitterly, suddenly on Ruby's bunk, "And, Darce, You will change your gloves and wash your hands before you come within five feet of me."

I dejectedly stopped petting Zwei and went to do so.

"Cough, pussy whipped, cough." Gray said from behind his fist, actually saying "cough" instead of pretending.

Yang snorted at the pun, but stopped at the combined glares of Blake and me (I kept the bathroom door open to watch and listen to the best part). Weiss looked over to Zwei like she would an insect.

"Are you telling me…" 3, "That this mangy…" 2, "drooling…" 1, "mutt…" 0. the change in her face was instantaneous: She was smiling like a loon and looking adoringly at Zwei, "Is gowing to be wiving wif us foreva? Yes he is, yes he is!"

"Please keep it away from my belongings." Her pointed glare in my direction told me that I fell under the purview of "Her belongings".

"Are we really already at the compromising stage of our relationship?" I asked sarcastically, walking back into the room.

"Would all first year students please report to the amphitheater." Prof. Goodwitch's voice suddenly said over the speakers.

"Well, we can't exactly leave him here while we're gone for a week." Weiss said.

"Look, there's a letter." Yang said and pulled out a paper from the package, "'Dear girls, I've got to leave the island for a few days, so I'm sending Zwei to you to take care of. Enclosed is all the food you should need. Love you both, Taiyang.'"

With that, dozens of cans of dog food spilled out of the cylinder and piled around Zwei, who didn't seem to mind.

"What is he going to do with that?" Weiss questioned.

'_Wait for it_.' Puck and I thought in stereo.

A can opener fell out of the package and bounced off of the corgi's head.

"Well, that settles it," Yang said, tossing the paper to the side, "Come on, Zwei will be here when we get back."

'_No he won't._'

I followed Yang out, followed closely by Gray, then Weiss and Blake. Ruby, I noticed, took a few moments to join us, and was wearing a backpack.

_**Gray:**_

I walked into the auditorium with a bit of nervousness. I knew the drill by now, but I couldn't shake a sense of foreboding.

"Quiet! Quiet please! Prof. Ozpin would like to share a few words before we begin." Goodwitch said before Ozpin took the microphone.

"Today we stand together, united. Mistral. Atlas. Vacuo. Vale." He gave a glance to each group as he called them, "The four Kingdoms of Remnant. On this day, nearly eighty years ago, the largest war in recorded history came to an end. It was a war of ignorance, of greed, and of oppression. A war that was about much more than where borders fell or who traded with whom, but about the very idea of individualism itself. We fought for countless reasons, one of which being the destruction of all forms of art and self-expression. And as you are well aware, that was something many could not stand for. As a result, those who opposed this tyranny began naming their children after one of the core aspects of art itself: color. It was their way to demonstrate that not only would they refuse to tolerate this oppression, but neither were the generations to come. And it was a trend that is held to this very day. We encourage individuality, expressionism, and unity through diversity. As I have said, today we stand together, united. But this bond cannot exist without effort. Which is why today, while the rest of the world celebrates peace, Huntsmen and Huntresses will work to uphold it. As first year students, you will be tasked with shadowing a professional Huntsman or Huntress on a mission. Some of you may be taken out of the Kingdom for several days. Others may work within the walls for the rest of the week. But no matter which path you choose, remember to be safe, remember your training, and remember to do your very best."

I saw Darce mouthing along with the headmaster's speech, it must've been an important moment in the show. Oh well.

"This is perfect!" Ruby said once Ozpin stepped away, "All we have to do is shadow a huntsman working in the southeast."

"Yeah, we'll follow them by day and give'em the slip at night." Yang said excitedly.

"Let's check search and destroy." Weiss suggested.

We walk to the corresponding section and looked over the screen.

"Here we go: Quadrant 5 needs grimm cleared out!" Ruby read off.

"Well, it's in the southeast." Blake agreed.

"Alright, let's sign up for it before someone else does." I commented.

Ruby quickly did so, tapping the mission and typing in our team name. Red text flashed on the screen:

**MISSION UNAVAILABLE TO FIRST YEAR STUDENTS**

"Wonderful." Weiss rich-person cursed and rolled her eyes.

"Any other ideas?" Blake asked.

"We mail ourselves there." Ruby said seriously.

"Alright, I've got the bubblewrap and Darce has the cardboard boxes. Anyone have stamps?" I said immediately. Finally, my time to actually contribute!

"Well, that's one option." Said the headmaster's voice.

Dammit!

He walked up to us from behind the screen while looking at his scroll-tablet thing.

"Unfortunately, we determined that the concentration of Grimm was too extreme for first-year students. It seems that particular region is rather popular. In fact, I have the sneaking suspicion that you four will make your way there no matter which job you choose."

Fuck, and I thought you were cool!

We all glared at Ruby, who nervously rubbed the back of her head.

"Whatever makes you say that?" She tried to half-lie.

"I'm still curious how you all found yourself at the docks last semester. I'm interested to know how you really learned about a 'hideout' in the southeast. And I certainly wonder why witnesses reported seeing robots and rose petals in a dance club some time ago." the headmaster gave each of us a pointed look.

Ruby tried to stutter a reply, but Ozpin cut her off.

"I doubt I'll ever find the exact answers I'm looking for. So how about this: instead of waiting for you all to break the rules, why don't we just _bend_ them?"

He tapped his tablet a few times and the screen made a computer-y noise, which I took to mean we had the mission.

Nevermind, Ozpin's still cool!

"We won't let you down. Thank you, professor." Ruby said gratefully.

"Do not thank me for this. Teamwork and persistence have carried you far. But you must understand, the things that await you beyond the protection of the Kingdom will not care. Stay close to your Huntsman at all times, and do exactly as he says. He will be leading you on this mission, and he can have you sent back to Beacon, if he finds your skills to be unsatisfactory." He said and walked away.

We all glanced nervously at each other at his words. Ozpin popped his head back.

"Good luck." He said as a goodbye.

_**Darce:**_

"He has a weird habit of giving speeches that actually make me _more_ nervous about whatever I'm about to do." Gray noted as we walked away.

"Yeah, that wasn't exactly uplifting." Yang added.

"But it's the truth." Blake said.

"It's going to be tough, but I know we can do it!" Ruby said, actually encouraging us.

"Hey! Team CVFY's back!" A guy yelled as he ran past us.

'_Sweet! Hey, Puck, you should suit up and meet Velvet! She's super nice, you'd like her._'

'_I know everything you know, remember? Besides, it'd take too long, and I'm tired._'

'_Eh, fine._' I replied, not wanting to push him.

We walked up to team CVFY, Blake immediately going to Velvet.

"Velvet, are you okay?" She asked.

"I'm fine, I had Yatsuhashi to look out for me." She gestured to a large man who nodded back.

"Your mission was supposed to end a _week_ ago, what happened?" Weiss asked, equally as concerned as Blake.

"N-nothing happened, it was just….there was just so many." She said and got a far off look, then snapped back, "Oh, but don't worry, you first years are just shadowing huntsmen, so you should be fine."

"Right." Gray and Yang said slowly.

"I should go. Be safe, okay?" Velvet said.

She waved goodbye and left, leaving us all even more worried.

"We can do this. We've never backed down before, and we're not going to start now."

"Right." Blake said, getting pumped in her own way.

"Besides, it won't only be us out there! We'll be fighting alongside a genuine huntsman!"

"Yeah!" Yang cheered.

"300 lien says it's Oobleck." I said quietly.

Ruby put a finger over my mouth and made a loud "shhh!" noise.

"This is a no negativity conversation." She Ruby-scolded.

"I'll take that action." Yang said, ignoring her sister's words. We shook on it.

Ten minutes later, as the rest of team RWBY looked at our huntsman with varying levels of shock and horror, Gray and I were smiling.

"Why, hello there!" Dr. Oobleck said excitedly, "Who's ready to fight for their lives?!"

"How…" Yang's voice was barely a whisper, "How did you know?"

"I'm just that good." I said with what most people would say was too much enthusiasm.

"Professor Oobleck?" Weiss asked, not believing her eyes.

"Yes, I'm afraid those bags won't be necessary, seeing as you've opted to shadow a huntsman on what is now essentially a reconnaissance mission." The doctor said in his normal quick speech as he paced in front of us.

As he continued his briefing, I smiled like a loon. Dr. Oobleck was one of my favorite teachers, not just because the show painted him well, but because I'd had time to actually size him up for myself. He put a great amount of effort in actually teaching his students, instead of just rambling on like Port, or being as strict as Goodwitch. I snapped back into focus when he leaned towards Weiss.

"And it's _Dr_. Oobleck. I didn't earn my PhD in fun, thank you very much!"

When he backed away, Weiss glanced over at Blake and me, something like confusion and fear evident in her eyes.

"Umm…" Weiss started, but the doctor interrupted her.

"Come now, children! According to my schedule, we are already three minutes behind...schedule!" And then he dashed over to the airship in no time flat.

"One day, I'll be that fast." I said wistfully to myself.

"You'd have to be a coffee addict like him, to." Weiss noted, then gave me an odd look at the face I made, "What?"

"I'm not a big fan of coffee." I answered, remembering the first time I tried the stuff.

"What? How can you not drink coffee and survive a place like this?!" She asked, shocked.

I looked around to see that Yang and Ruby were silently agreeing with her, but Gray and Blake were on my side.

"I'm just more of a tea person." I said, my hands raised defensively.

Yang eyed us and noted that all the tea-drinkers were...of a similar species.

"What, is not liking coffee a faunus thing?"

We all stared at her for a moment before Gray spoke up.

"Wow, Yang. We were just having a conversation about tea vs. coffee, then _you_ had to go and make it all about _race_, didn't you?"

Yang opened and closed her mouth like a fish, recognizing the hole she'd dug herself. I decided to join in the fun.

"Tread lightly, Xiao Long." I said in a faux-threatening tone.

"Oh, come on! You guys have known me for months now! I'm not racist!"

"Guys, were supposed to be saving the world here, not bickering!"

"Saving the world?! You guys are going on world-saving missions without us?!" Nora shouted from behind us.

Her and her team were walking towards us, with Nora waving her arms dramatically.

"I'm hurt! Sad!...Maybe a little hungry? That last one's not your fault though. _Ren._" She glared over to her partner, who crossed his arms and turned away.

"Sounds exciting. Where ya' going?" Jaune asked with a wide smile.

"Oh, just outside the kingdom." Ruby answered

"Hey, so are we!" Nora cheered.

"Ren and Nora wanted to shadow the sheriff of a nearby village." Pyrrha added.

"We set out tomorrow." Ren spoke up in his usual quiet but confident way.

"Cool-" Ruby started, but was interrupted by Oobleck's call.

"Four minutes, children!"

"I think that's our cue to go." Gray chuckled, "Wish us luck!"

With that, we boarded the airship and set off for our first official mission.

_**Ooh, I wonder what surprises await them over in the southeast! Much of madness? More of sin? Horror the soul of the plot?**_

_**heehee, something like that.**_

_**Anyway, don't forget to follow, fav, and review. If you have any thoughts or suggestions feel free to send a PM my way. Make sure to catch next week's update!**_


	38. I'm scared of my girlfriend

_**And now we get to the actual mission. Get ready for Darce's new weapons and Gray's semi-new semblance. Hope you enjoy!**_

Ch. 34: I'm scared of my girlfriend

_**Puck:**_

Well, that's not a foreboding chapter title at all. Wait, are we talking about Darce's girlfriend, or Gray's? 'Cause, if it's Darce's, all we have to worry about is maybe dismemberment. If it's Gray's…

Lord have mercy on us all.

Oh, well. I guess we'll figure out, won't we? Not like _I_ have anything to cut off most of the time.

_**Darce:**_

'_What was that?_' I asked Puck, hearing him mutter something.

'_Nothing. You should probably pay attention to Oobleck._'

'_Fine, whatever._'

I quickly focused back on to Oobleck's speech, only to find he was already wrapping up.

"From this point forward, you need to do exactly as I say! Do you understand?" He asked.

We all nodded, then he noticed Ruby's bag.

"Ruby! I thought I told you to leave all of your bags back at school!"

She flinched a bit, but quickly covered for herself.

"But you hadn't told us to listen to you yet...so I didn't."

There was a pause as Weiss rolled her eyes, Gray facepalmed, and the rest slumped their shoulders. Oobleck took a moment to think.

"She's not wrong." The doctor justified to himself, holding his chin in contemplation, "Very well, Ruby. Leave your bag here, we can pick it up upon our return."

"But I, well, uh…"

"Young lady, what in the world could you possibly have in that bag that could be so important to bring it with-" He started, but stopped when the bag grew a corgi head.

Zwei looked around in blissful ignorance of the shocked stares he was receiving, only knowing that all these people were paying attention to him.

"Oh, you've _got_ to be kidding me." Gray muttered under his breath, facepalming again.

Ruby slowly turned her head and whispered out of the side of her mouth.

"Get back in the bag…" She said as discreetly as possible with everyone watching.

Zwei just let out a happy bark. Oobleck gave Ruby a deadpan look.

"We're here to investigate an abandoned urban jungle teeming with death and hostility, and you brought...a dog?"

"I...uh-" Ruby stuttered.

"Genius!" Oobleck cried out and seemed to walk away.

Ruby gave us a confused shrug before our huntsman-mentor zipped by Ruby, snatching Zwei and causing his owner to land flat on her ass. Mr. "Didn't-earn-my-PhD-in-fun" began to spin the small dog in the air.

"Canines are historically known for their perceptive nose and heightened sense of sound, making them excellent companions for a hunt such as ours!" He shouted excitedly.

Zwei's response was to bark happily again.

"Yeah, I'm definitely staying away from coffee." I whispered over to Blake and Gray, who both nodded in agreement.

The others were silent for a moment before Ruby spoke up.

"_I'm_ a genius." She said smugly.

Gray, Yang, and Weiss facepalmed at our pint-sized scythe wielder.

"I swear, I'm gonna get brain damage if you keep making me facepalm." Gray muttered again.

"So, what are your orders, doctor?" Blake asked.

Oobleck stopped spinning around with Zwei and looked over to her.

"Ah, yes, straight to the chase! I like it!" He dropped Zwei ad got a serious expression, "As you've been informed, the southeast area has been marked as a recent hotspot for grimm activity. Now, there are several possible explanations for this behavior, one of which being... grimm." Oobleck was looking behind us.

I knew what it was, but why spoil the surprise?

"Well, no sh-" Gray started a sarcastic remark, but Oobleck ignored him.

"A creature of Grimm approximately one hundred yards from us at this very moment."

"What?!" Yang and Gray said in stereo.

I was the only one not to draw my weapon immediately.

'_Soon._' I told myself.

"Stop!" the huntsman commanded.

Blake make a noise of confusion, but everyone lowered their weapons.

"There are a number of reasons why grimm will congregate in this particular area, the most likely of which will be their attraction to negativity: sadness, envy, loneliness, hatred. All qualities that are likely held by our hidden group harboring ill intent."

"Alright...so what?" Gray asked.

I nudged him with my elbow and whispered an explanation.

"If we follow the grimm, it'll eventually lead us to the bad guys."

Gray made a long "oohh" sound before Ruby questioned Oobleck.

"What do we do?"

"We wait." He answered, "We track. If this specimen leads us to its pack, that pack may subsequently lead us to our prey."

"How long do we wait?" Yang asked, mirroring Gray's impatience.

"It's uncertain. Hours, days, weeks. Why, lone Grimm have been known to stay isolated from the pack for months," There was only a slight pause when he realized five more grimm had showed up, "And there's the whole pack."

"What?!" Weiss exclaimed.

"And now they've seen us." He added.

"_What?!_" The heiress repeated.

"AND NOW THEY'VE SEEN US!" Oobleck said again, shouting in Weiss' ear.

"I take it tracking them is out of the question?" Our fearless leader asked.

"An accurate assumption, yes."

"Great, can I punch things now?" Gray deadpanned.

Oobleck took a very Ozpin-esque pause, then said:

"Show me what you're capable of."

_**Gray:**_

And then I proceeded to do what I do best: satisfy my inner serial killer by punching anthropomorphic representations of the evils of society to death. It was great fun, until Oobleck started questioning us about why we wanted to be Hunters. When he finally got to me, I decided to deflect the question with snark.

"What about you, Gray?" He asked.

I put on as serious a face as I could and answered in a calm, even bored, tone.

"Signed up on a dare." I shrugged, "Darce bet me I couldn't get into Beacon in the same year as him, and let's just say I'm fifty lien richer because of it. I had nothing better to do, so I stayed."

Our green-haired teacher furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance, but moved on without comment.

"While we're on the topic, why do you want to be a huntsman, Darce?" He asked as Darce decapitated a Beowolf.

"A wise man once said 'Be the change you want to see in the world,' and I firmly believe in those words. One day I saw a little girl beating the living crap out of a group of poorly dressed thugs with ridiculously large scythe, so, logically, I thought to myself 'Hey, she could use some help.' Before I knew it, I was in an interrogation room with Ozpin asking me if I wanted to make a difference. The rest is history." Darce replied, a wide smirk on his lips and a distant look in his eyes.

"Cresent Rose is _NOT_ ridiculously large!" Ruby shouted, then hugged her weapon close to her body and began to pet the side, cooing softly, "Don't worry, sweetheart, he doesn't know what he's talking about." She whispered.

Yang, Darce, and I all chuckled at this. Blake rolled her eyes, Weiss face palmed, and Oobleck just looked confused. I elbowed Weiss and whispered to her.

"Careful, looks like you've got competition." I said, gesturing to Ruby's scythe.

The heiress gave me an unamused glare.

"Competition for _what?_" She demanded.

"Oh, nothing~. Nevermind, just go back to denial." I sing-songed.

Weiss gave a long sigh.

"You've been hanging out with Yang too much." She noted before going back to killing grimm.

"Hey, where's Blake?" Darce asked.

I looked around, but she wasn't there.

"Probably off to clear out more monsters somewhere else." I shrugged.

He didn't seem convinced, but went back to work anyway. It was then I noticed that Darce had a whole new set of swords.

"Hey, when'd you get new gear?" I asked.

"Hm? Oh, Ruby made them as a kind of 'get well soon' gift when she learned I lost Nihil. Meet the new and _very_ improved 'Nihil' and his new friend 'Nulla'." He said, lifting them up for me to see.

They looked nothing like his old katana, they were straighter and a bit shorter. Oh, and it was covered in several sharp points. There was a crescent shaped blade covering the front of the grip, a dagger sprouted from the bottom of the hilt, and the tip of the normal blade was curved forward into a hook.

"She made you a pair of tiger hook swords?" I asked rhetorically, slightly confused.

"Yeah, but that's not even the cool part! Check this!"

He linked the two hooks together and swung them around like a something between an axe and a flail. Then, after he'd killed a few grimm that way, the two swords seemed to twist around each other and suddenly became a really bulky looking sniper rifle.

"And for my last trick!" Darce said as he shot a Beowolf in the head from several meters away.

The bullet not only made its head pop like a balloon, it also killed two others that were behind it.

"This one is called 'Gemino 3'!This thing shoots rounds the size of my p-"

"_Keep it PG, Darce._" Puck interrupted from the floor.

"What? I was going to say pointer finger! Geez, Puck, get your head out of the gutter." The cat faunus said indignantly.

Darce then turned around and fired a few shots at incoming monsters, and I noticed another strange thing about his weapon.

"There's no recoil or noise." I commented.

He turned back to me and smirked.

"Yeah, I upgraded from a railgun to a coilgun!"

There was a moment of silence as he realized those words meant nothing to me. He sighed and tried again.

"Railguns use dust _and_ magnets to work. Coilguns just use magnets. No dust means no bang. No bang means no kick. I don't even need a silencer anymore."

"Oh….cool."

"Yes, Gray. It's very cool. Ruby did a really good job on it."

"Don't mention it!" Our leader called from her corner of battle.

With the grimm all dead now, we looked around but Blake was still missing. Darce was visibly starting to panick.

"I'm gonna go look for her." He said before dashing off in a random direction.

Just then, she found her way back to the group. Blake looked a little zoned out, but was uninjured as far as I could tell.

"Hey, where'd you run off to?" Yang asked her partner.

Blake glared at her and moved to distance herself from Yang.

"What's it to you?" Blake replied harshly.

Everyone was understandably confused by her sudden hostility, and Ruby tried to move in and mollify her.

"Blake, are you okay? What's wrong?"

"Oh, don't give me that. Like you care, anyway." The faunus girl hissed.

Okay, there was _definitely_ something wrong. Why couldn't we just have **one fucking day without this bullshit!**

"What's eating her?" I asked Darce.

He was, after all, her boyfriend, surely he'd know...yeah, right.

"Hell if I know." He replied predictably, then tried his own luck at calming Blake down, "Blake, come on, talk to us."

She glared at him too, but it softened after a moment.

'_Looks like the pussy whipping goes both ways._' I thought to myself.

Blake finally looked away and shrugged.

"Nothing. I'm just not comfortable with all these…" She made a gesture at the rest of our team.

"What? You've been hanging out with them practically day and night for months-" He cut himself off and seemed to zone out for a moment, "Blake, did you see anyone while you were separated from us?"

"I…" Blake was a bit taken aback by this sudden question, she furrowed her eyebrows as if trying to remember, "I...I think so….I...can't remember…" She put a hand to her head as if she had a headache.

"Darce, what are you getting at?" I asked.

"She's uncomfortable around humans and being evasive when questioned. Those are her worst traits amplified. Who do we know that can do that?"

The answer struck me and my eyes widened.

"Lily."

"_Lily_." Blake repeated as she clutched her head tighter, "She...said her name was...Lily…"

She looked like a cornered animal when she opened her eyes and looked at us. She was scared, so she did another one of her bad traits: she ran.

"Catch her! Lily got to her! Gray, you need to fix her like you did me!" Darce shouted.

All of team RWBY sprung into action.

"Get away from me, you filthy humans!" Blake screamed at us as we chased her through the wasteland.

After five minutes of what was essentially a scooby-doo chase with shadow clones and superspeed, we finally caught her. I put a hand on her forehead and summoned the weird energy. When the light stopped flooding out off Blake's eyes, she fell into a limp unconsciousness.

"I still have no idea how I do that." I commented as we carried her back to Oobleck.

"I'll explain it to you later." Darce whispered.

"Not only this, but now we have to worry about Lily!" I continued.

"What happened to her." Our green haired teacher demanded when he saw Blake.

"She hasn't been sleeping well lately, a Beowolf got past her and knocked her unconscious." My brother lied easily.

It was starting to scare me how quickly Darce could lie now, and how well he pulled it off. He used to hate directly lying, but now he acted as if it came naturally. I didn't like what being in this world was doing to him, I hated the fact that it was necessary even more. Though, I suppose it's only natural, like Charles Darwin said.

Welcome to Remnant, a world of bloody evolution.

_**Bloody evolution, indeed. So, lots of info and MORE DRAMA dumped into this chapter. Tiger hook swords are a real thing, look them up.**_

_**Anyway, don't forget to follow, fav, and review. If you have any thoughts or suggestions feel free to send a PM my way. Come back next week to see Mab and Lily stalking our heroes!**_


	39. I'm scared of everyone Part 1

_**And so, we come upon the first of a two-part chapter! Be entertained!**_

Ch. 35: I'm scared of everyone _[Part 1]_

_**Mab:**_

"Damn, that was a lot more boring than I thought it would be." I cursed.

Lily shrugged.

"Well, not everyone has a bloody killer inside of them. Sure, I found some repressed rage towards humans, but nothing lethal. I really thought, with her being a former assassin and all, that she would have at least tried to attack them."

"Well, it looks like we were both wrong, then. Who should we try next?"

"I think I'll go for Yang or Gray, they look like they might do some damage, but I'll take who I can get. Darce should also still have hidden triggers from last time, I might try those."

"Good. Keep me posted, and try to capture the Forges alive."

"Whatever. Go back to the Hole, I've got this."

_**Darce:**_

We had our eyes peeled now. Oobleck was informed that there might be a human hostile following us, so he was on high alert to. Wouldn't want to face _a fully trained huntsman_ as our opponent, now would we? While he was distracted, we all huddled around Ruby, who was telling us the game plan for finding Lily.

"Alright, we split up into two groups of three: One offensive, one defensive, and one support. We keep constant communication over our scrolls. Gray, Blake, Darce, you guys will be Team Tea and you'll be scouting the east side. Yang, Weiss, and I will….Uh, where's Weiss?"

There was a moment of silence before Gray closed his eyes and sighed.

"Shit." He cursed.

"Alright, new plan: We find Weiss, lure her towards Gray, and he does his light-thing on her. How do you do that anyway?" Ruby asked.

"Well, my semblance might not be Mastery, so much as I can bring out the best qualities in whatever I touch. It negates Lily's semblance." He half-lied.

Bringing out the best qualities is his semblance, but it's his _earth_ semblance. I think.

"Wait, what happens if you do it on a person who isn't under Lily's spell?" Yang asked.

There was another moment of silence, as that thought hadn't occurred to any of us before. Gray shrugged.

"Hell if I know. Wanna try?"

"As team leader, I should try it first." Ruby interjected.

Gray shrugged again and held out his hand. When she grabbed it, light poured into her.

The change was instant.

Suddenly, it was like she was on super-fast forward. Her every movement was a blur, and her surprised yelp came out as a garbled squeak. Gray released her hand and grabbed his head in pain, then got down on his knees as if winded.

"Wow….I suddenly feel like shit." He grunted.

"ohwowhathapenedgrayareyouokayouloktiredinedtogolokforweisnowseyainabithopeyoufelbeter-" Ruby said before she just vanished.

"Today has just not been my day." Gray said and slumped over.

Puck made a loud yawning noise in my head as he woke up.

'_What's goin' on? What'd I miss?_' He asked sleepily.

I flashed him my recent memories to catch him up.

'_Crap, I picked a bad time to go to sleep. I guess I stayed up too long last night._'

'_What were you doing up so late anyway?_'

'_Nothing important._' he evaded.

'_Wait, I don't even remember you coming back to the dorm with us!_'

'_Because I stayed longer than you guys._'

'_Yeah, but...ugh, fine. Anyway, Weiss is gone and Ruby probably went off on her own to find her. You mind sniffing around for them?_'

'_Not at all, just give me a minute_.'

It took Puck a few minutes to form a body. He didn't need to, but we were getting used to being separated. He was starting to find a 'standard' body, like a younger version of me but more slender. For some reason the bodies he made couldn't produce an aura, so the black fleece jacket he'd grown so fond of was as dense as kevlar, and he had bone plating under his clothes. When it was all done, he made a big show of stretching out his limbs and popping his back.

"Goddamn, it feels good to be out." My former shadow sighed with relief.

"I didn't realize my head was so cramped." I sarcastically apologized.

He flashed me a grin, but let the subject drop.

"Any-who, Lily's close by, but I smell Weiss much closer. Also, Ruby's…" He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, "...Everywhere?"

A red blur appeared in front of him and Ruby chattered incoherently at him for a second before disappearing again. We both blinked a few times before we just ignored that it ever happened and moved on.

"Anyway, yeah, Weiss is that way and coming closer." Puck finished, pointing towards a street off to our left.

"Alright, then let's go." I prompted.

When we found her she was shambling like she was drunk, but had a look in her eye. Like she was ready to take over the world.

'_Well, this should be interesting_.'

She froze in her tracks when she saw us, and pointed her finger at us like we were her servants.

"You two," She yelled imperiously, "Carry me on your shoulders back to the rest of _my_ team."

Puck and I shared a glance.

"Yeeeeaaaah, that's not happening, princess." Puck answered.

She furrowed her brow at us like she couldn't comprehend someone saying "no" to her.

"You will address your new team leader as 'Ms. Schnee', and you _will_ do as you're told!" She barked like a spoiled child who'd been refused a cookie.

Brattiness and megalomania. Weiss' worst traits.

"Weiss, you're under the effects of Lily's semblance. Just snap out of it." I said in a calm tone while slowly approaching her.

She narrowed her eyes at me, then drew her rapier. Shit.

"If I must discipline you animals to make you listen to your betters, I _will_." She warned.

Ah, yes, some residual racism. I'd almost forgotten. Oh, and Weiss was gearing up to stab me, so there's that.

"Puck, go get Gray, I'll hold her off." I said, drawing my own swords.

"Got it." He dissolved and a black stripe rushed back to the others.

Weiss scoffed.

"As if an animal could beat a Schnee."

"You know, I'm starting to understand why Gray just can't seem to get along with you."

She struck first. She did that thrust/dash thing of her's, and I only barely managed to dodge it. I landed right onto a black glyph that suddenly appeared. My feet were stuck fast, but I could still fight. Illusions would take too much concentration, so I shifted Nihil and Nulla into Gemino 3 and fired at the ground around the heiress, hoping to scare her and break her focus enough to dispel the glyph. It worked, and I leapt towards her in an attempt to just hold her down until Gray got here. She tried to slash at me, but I was quicker. I hooked both of my swords around hers and tore it out of her grasp. I then put her in a headlock against a wall, thinking she was pretty useless without her weapon. Oh boy, was I wrong. She somehow managed to touch Myrtenaster with her foot, and I guess that was enough. She summoned a blue glyph on the wall she was held against and suddenly I was flying backwards through the air. I landed on my back and the wind was knocked out of me. Aura let me quickly recover, but not quickly enough to stop Weiss from reaching her sword. By the time I got up, she was already going through the movement of swiping Myrtenaster at my throat. Well, decapitation wasn't the worst way to go. I closed my eyes and turned away.

_**Gray:**_

I came in just in time. I managed to block Weiss' attack and heal her at the same time. That was about five minutes ago.

"I'mSoSorryI'mSoSorryI'mSoSorryI'mSoSorryI'mSoSorry-" Weiss kept repeating over and over to Darce.

"Weiss, I keep telling you, there's nothing to apologize for. I've been there to, remember? I know what that's like, so I understand."

"But that's no excuse for how I-"

"Alright, Weiss, look at it this way: Do you think I would ever eat a person of my own volition?"

'Well, no, but that-"

"-Is pretty much exactly what happened to you. Just let it go, alright?"

Weiss hesitated, but eventually nodded and walked away. Ruby cleared her throat to get our attention.

"Alright, new game plan: We're _not_ going to go look for Lily. Instead, we're going to pair up and just keep an eye out. Make sure you keep your scrolls on just incase."

Ruby, thankfully, was back to normal now that we figured out how to reverse whatever the hell I did. So, that energy I used to make her that way? A reloadable one-off. I can only do one person at a time, and the only way for me to give it to another person is to re-absorb that energy from the person I gave it to in the first place. Oh, and I feel like absolute shit until I have the energy back, so I can't exactly use it in a fight.

"Alright, so who's pairing up with who?" Ruby asked us, already standing next to her princess.

"I call Blake." Darce said quickly.

Which only left me with the blonde.

"Alright then, I go with…." But I didn't see Yang here.

Oh, you have to be **fucking kidding me.**

"Guys, how long has Yang been gone?"

"Umm…." Everyone was at a complete loss for words.

If Lily got to her...we're dead. With Weiss, she just wanted to control. Darce went against that, so she struck back. But Yang…

***BOOM***

An explosion sounded in the distance. We all jumped and looked in that direction.

"Oh, sweet Nox, have mercy on my soul." I whispered a small prayer.

_**Nox:**_

Sorry hun, you're on your own.

_**Gray:**_

"I swear to god, guys, if I suddenly disappear and nobody notices, Lily isn't even going to need her semblance to make me hurt someone." I deadpan.

"Noted. Now, how are we going to deal with Yang?" Weiss asks.

"Well, at some point, I'm going to have to touch her long enough to let my semblance cancel out Lily's. Which means I'm going to have to get within arms reach of an atomic bomb with boobs and anger management issues."

"Right, I'll start browsing funeral homes. You want to be buried or cremated?" Darce asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I have a feeling I'll already _be_ cremated." I muttered under my breath. Out loud, I said, "Right, let's get this over with."

In all seriousness, this was probably going to leave me extra crispy. I've fought Yang probably more than anyone here other than Ruby, so I know the extent of her strength. During our spar matches, I always had a feeling that she was holding back, if only a little. If I was right, there was no way I could beat her. But it was either I try, or Yang's stuck like that. Possibly forever. The damage she could cause was staggering enough when you didn't factor in what it would do to _her_.

If I can't win in strength, I'll win in speed, stealth, and intelligence. Basically, I had to be Darce. Again.

"Yo, Darce, got ten bucks I can borrow?" I asked casually.

_**Well, this is a fine pickle our heroes have found themselves in. Whatever shall they do?**_

_**Will Yang get saved? Will she beat the ever-loving fuck out of Gray? If she does get saved, who's next? Was Yang the winner of the voting, or am I just leading you on?! **__**WILL RUBY EVER GET SENPAI TO NOTICE HER?!**_

_**(Wait, I think I've used that one already….eh, oh well. No one reads my A/Ns anyway)**_

_**Anyway, don't forget to follow, fav, and review. If you have any thoughts or suggestions feel free to send a PM my way. Some of those questions and more will be answered next time, so see you then!**_


	40. I'm scared of everyone Part 2

_**And now we get to the second part of what is now a three parter. Yeah, I put so much detail into this that I'm splitting it even more. Enjoy it. Enjoy it now.**_

Ch. 36: I'm scared of everyone _[Part 2]_

_**Gray:**_

"Yang's going supernova, and you want money?" Darce questioned incredulously.

"Just humor a dead man, alright?" I replied.

He sighed, but pulled out his wallet and handed one over.

"Thanks." I slipped the lien into my pocket, then headed off in Yang's direction.

"Wait, what's the plan?" Darce called after me.

I turned back and gave him a Forge patented grin. It was the grin our dad would give mom whenever he would cover for us, the one Darce would give me every time I asked something about Blake. A grin that said, '_God, please don't let this come to bite me in the ass later_'.

"I don't know yet." I said finally

_**Five minutes later:**_

It wasn't hard to find her. I just followed the sound of fire and crumbling buildings. The occasional angry roar also helped. When I found her, she was full on super saiyan with glowing red eyes and burning hair.

"Well, hey there, Yang. Lovely day for a stroll, isn't it?" I asked to get her attention.

And all too suddenly, I had it. Her feral gaze snapped towards me with an intensity that matched the fire that surrounded her.

"**What do you want, Gray?!**" She growled at me.

"Just came to say hi and maybe cancel out Lily's semblance in you, if you're feeling up to it."

For a moment, I waited for her to shout something else at me. But after a second it became clear she was struggling _not_ to. I could see that she knew what was happening to her and was trying to fight it.

"**Gr**ay...please, **get **awa**y from meee…**" The red in her eyes began to flicker, but then came back with a vengeance.

I ran towards her and tried to fix her before she lost it again, but I was a second too late. I didn't even see the hit coming. Before I knew it, I was flying through a concrete wall and landing on my face.

You know that pained moan Loki let out after Hulk beat his ass in Avengers? Right after Hulk's token line "Puny God"? Yeah, I did that after just one of Yang's blows.

When I could finally stand up, I crawled through the hole I'd made on the way in and stumbled back to the blonde brawler. I reached into my pocket, held onto the ten lien bill Darce had given me, and let the chill of my semblance crawl up my arm.

Now, what would Darce do?

Step One: Hang back, look for weakness in some aspect or other. How's her defence? She has the best defence: a good offence. Senses? She's human, but that doesn't mean her eyes and ears are anything to laugh at. Fighting style? Weak to kick-based attacks, but so am I. Mentality? Pissed.

Step two: Distract and hide. I grabbed a rock and threw it as hard as I could at a far away wall. While Yang focused on the sudden noise it made, I ducked behind a large boulder.

Step three: Attack from behind.

Step four: Repeat steps two and three until they stop getting up.

Well, this is gonna suck for one of us. I just hope it isn't me.

_**Mab:**_

"Gray's fighting Yang. Whatever he's doing, it's reversing the effect of my Madness." Lily reported.

I stared at the screen on my laptop. The cameras I'd installed were showing me a vast majority of the abandoned town, but all the one's in Yang's area had been..let's just say _damaged_. On my screen right now were the rest of team RWBY and friends. They didn't concern me, what concerned me was the mystery man they had with them. He hadn't arrived with them, but no one was questioning his presence. He looked a lot like Darce, come to think of it. Maybe another Forge? Nah, reinforcements would be against the rules, I think. I turned up the audio.

"Do you think he'll make it?" the mystery man asked Darce.

"I have absolute confidence he won't die." He replied without flinching, but also without answering.

"I don't mean to be insensitive, but how can you be sure?" Weiss asked, actual concern in her voice.

'_Aw, is the ice queen growing a heart?_' I internally mocked.

Though, now that I thought about it, I didn't like how close Ruby was being with Weiss. She seemed to be at her shoulder at all times, and Weiss wasn't even caring. Also, Darce and Blake were full-on leaning against each other, in the way couples comfort one another. That's not how it's supposed to happen, and it needed to be fixed.

"Because, Weiss, he's my little brother. A Forge always has a plan, whether he knows it or not." Darce answered with a wide smile.

None dared to tear him from his obvious delusions. It was sweet, how he couldn't accept that his precious brother was probably going to die. Unless I got to him first, that is. I stood up abruptly and strode out of the room.

"Lily, keep an eye on them, I'm heading out."

_**Gray:**_

I figured there was something wrong with my plan after I crashed through my sixth or seventh wall. My aura was doing its job, but not fast enough to make any of this painless. Every time I hit her from behind, I put everything I had into the punch. But her semblance just made her that much stronger. I needed a new plan and fast. Unfortunately, I was fresh out of ideas.

"**Is this the best you can do, Gray?! Hit and run?!**" Yang roared as she sent me through my seventh or eighth wall.

When was she going to run out of these damn walls?!

I couldn't get up and run away fast enough. Yang caught me and gut punched me. I went down like a sack of potatoes. Mmm...I could really go for some potatoes right now. Dammit, Gray, now's not the time to be thinking about food!

Yang loomed over me, and I was in too much pain to do anything. This can't be game over, there has to be something I missed! Some last minute plan that could save me. But no, Yang was already bending down to grab the collar of my shirt and lift me half-way up. Now she was raising her fist to beat me to death. I closed my eyes and waited for-

There was a sound of metal sliding over metal, and Yang dropped me. I opened my eyes to see some kind of shiny rope wrapped around Yang's arm. It looked deadly familiar.

"Well, hello Gray. Long time, no see." Mab's voice sounded sadistically amused, "If you're going to fix her, I suggest you do it now."

Not needing to be told twice, I quickly rushed over to my teammate and used my semblance. Yang, like the others, was knocked out after the lights faded, so I tossed her over my shoulder. Then I stared down Mab.

"Why did you help me?"

She laughed a bit at this.

"Let's just say I'm invested in your survival." She said cryptically.

"I can't let you just leave." I informed her, reactivating Scorpion.

She laughed again.

"If you try to stop me, it's not likely that you'll be able to fight _and_ protect your sleeping friend there from my knife." Came her haughty reply.

Then she turned and left, completely confident I wouldn't try anything.

_**Mab:**_

I had a wide smile on my face the whole way back to where Lily and I set up base. At least, that's where I _was_ heading, until I decided to make a quick detour to satisfy my curiosity.

"He's taking his sweet time." Weiss' voice echoed off the walls as I neared them.

"He'll take as long as he needs." Darce replied.

"I still don't understand why he needed to go in alone." Ruby said hesitantly.

"Gray is the only one who can make her better, and with their close combat fighting styles, we would only get in the way." Blake explained.

"...Guys, we have a visitor." Said a voice I didn't recognize.

I finally got close enough to see them. They were all huddled together, but the moment they saw me, they jerked into fighting stances. The new guy and Darce shared a glance as they pulled out their weapons.

"Oh, my, that's right, I never gave your sword back, did I, Darce? Well, I'll be sure to mail it back as soon as possible." I gave him a genuine smile before turning to the stranger, "Now, who might you be."

He looked confused for a moment, then grinned.

"You really don't know, do you?" He said slowly.

I took a moment to look him over. His posture told me he'd never been in a real fight, but his clothes told me he was confident to the point of arrogance. Dark hair, eyes, and clothes contrasted beautifully with his pale skin. If he had a white hoodie on, some thick eyeliner, and a smile carved into his face, he could easily pass as Jeff the Killer with a haircut.

Next was weapons. In each hand were what looked like either weird sickles made to look like jawbones or weird jawbones that had been sharpened to look like sickles. The teeth were used to give the blade a serrated edge.

"Interesting gear you've got there. Is that real bone?" I asked casually.

His smirk grew. He was obviously very proud of his sickles.

"Yep. I call them Judges 15 and 16."

I heard a small laugh come from my earpiece. Wait, was that...Lily?!

"Well, he's obviously from earth; the name is a bible reference."

I didn't reply, still in shock that _Lily has the ability to fucking laugh_. She's never done that in her entire life, why did she find that so funny?

"What does the name mean?" I asked the new guy.

"And Samson said, 'With the jawbone of an ass, I have made asses of them. With the jawbone of an ass, I have slain a thousand men.'" He replied.

"He's basically saying your an ass," Lily translated with a chuckle, "And he's going to kill you."

I could _hear_ her smile in her voice. She found this _funny_!

_**Lily:**_

I thought this guy was hilarious. His weapons were basically a middle finger to his opponents, I wish I'd thought of it. I was walking to the rear of their location. Hey, I still had a job to do.

"Just ask him his name already." I spoke quietly into my mouthpiece as I edged closer to the group.

"So, just who _are_ you, exactly?" Mab asked.

I scanned the perimeter to see who was the furthest away from the rest. Well, more accurately, if anyone was far enough to snag without anyone noticing.

"Why, Mab, I'm offended. Don't you recognize me? After all, you chose my name." He said cryptically.

I thought hard, thinking back to anyone who-...no, wait a minute…

"...No way. There's no way that's possible. You can't be-" Mab said slowly, coming to the same conclusion as me.

"Puck." I finished, before reaching out and grabbing a red cloak.

_**Whoo, big reveal to them, not so much to us. But, really, imagine how they're feeling right now. A psychotic episode brought on by Lily suddenly becoming their own person physically separate from the original host? That's the stuff of science fiction. Oh well. Also, what do you think Ruby will be like under Lily's semblance?**_

_**Anyway, don't forget to follow, fav, and review. If you have any thoughts or suggestions feel free to send a PM my way. Now, go have a day so magical that leprechauns envy you!**_


	41. well, crap

Alright, this is getting ridiculous!

Right, so, I started college recently, and I have no time to do this _and_ my sixteen units! I'm not discontinuing, but this story is on hiatus for now, until I can unfuck my schedule. _I'll be back SOON, I promise!_

Lots of love,

~rwbyfan5


	42. For the lulz

Ruby tapped her pencil against her homework.

"Hey, anyone seen Darce or Gray at all today?" Blake asked from her bed.

The girls all gave similar noises in the negatory.

"I suddenly have a bad feeling, though." Weiss commented.

"Why?" asked Blake, "Do you think Mab came back?"

"No," The heiress answered, "I just think they're getting into trouble, or are setting up to."

"You have a very low opinion of them, don't you?"

"Not Darce, so much as Gray. And if Gray is stirring up something…"

"Darce would get himself involved." Blake conceded.

"Hey, anyone got the date?" Ruby asked, noticing she forgot to put it in her paper.

Weiss pulled out her scroll.

"It's october 1st. Why-"

The door suddenly burst open, and Darce, Puck, and Gray appeared in skeleton costumes, dancing and singing.

"_**SPOOKY, SCARY SKELETONS**_

_**SEND SHIVERS DOWN YOUR SPINE**_

_**SHRIEKING SKULLS WILL SHOCK YOUR SOUL**_

_**SEAL YOUR DOOM TONIGHT!**_"

"WHAT IS GOING ON?!" Weiss screamed over the Forges' loud singing

"SOMETHING STUPID." Blake answered, covering all four of her ears.


	43. Well, it was fun while it lasted

Okay, so, I've fucked up.

For the better part of a year, I've tried to revive this fic. I even went so far as to tell several people that it would happen. To those people, I apologize. I've had friends help me even try to do a complete rewrite of it just to breathe back some life into the fic. In the year I've been gone, I've gotten MOST of chapter 1 done. So, as I realized that the one year anniversary of my last published chapter was in a month, I also realized that I just no longer had the drive to complete the story, _ever_. I never really had a plan for ITG, I just kind of made it up as I wrote, which was fun, but impractical.

My main apology goes out to two of my friends who took their time to try and help me, only to have their efforts wasted. One shall remain nameless due to copious amounts of stupid being aimed at him right now, but the other one is Spartan25798. Go check out his profile, I beta for him and in return he...

Well, let's just say blood ain't cheap, and "surprise donors" are apparently not a thing.

I'm not giving up writing entirely, I've actually got another fic in the works. Now that I'm not bogged down with trying to bring ITG back from the dead, I'm gonna focus on completing the new one.

And finally, thanks for sticking with this to the bitter end.

Peace out, Fanatics, I'll be see'n ya real soon...

-rwbyfan5


End file.
